


One and two passions

by reherareh



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Basketball, Alternate Universe - High School, Basketball, Child Abuse, Drama & Romance, Enemies, Enemies to Lovers, Hate to Love, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Violence, Some fluff and cuteness, Swearing, Teen Romance, They low key like each other but they also hate each other, basketball players, sweet too, tiny bit of sexual tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:15:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25092976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reherareh/pseuds/reherareh
Summary: The two very skilled high school basketball players and teammates Dongmin and Minhyuk pretty much hate each other. Even on court and in games their rivalry can be seen. But when they sit down at the same table and find out that they share not one but two matching passions, things start to change between them.
Relationships: Lee Dongmin | Cha Eunwoo/Park Minhyuk | Rocky
Comments: 42
Kudos: 72





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi hi!
> 
> So originally I was going to make this into a longer AU with many chapters but I didn't know how to make the story and I didn't know anything about high school in Korea which the story is based off, kinda. I did do some research but I got too lazy to properly read about the education system and those things lol.
> 
> Oh and Minhyuk and Dongmin are basketball players so there will be mentions of the sport.  
> I personally used to play for something like five years so I know a thing or two, don't worry XD
> 
> Anyway, I had already written some things that randomly came up in my mind so I'm posting the story like this. 
> 
> Enjoy!!!

Dongmin can't believe he's doing this. He shouldn't do this. He doesn't have time to date. School and studying, basketball and early-morning piano lessons, that's his life. There's no time for dating.

The girls at school are all over him, but Dongmin doesn't find a single thing attractive about any of them. The only decent ones are too shy to approach him. Not that he can't make the first move himself, it's just that he's not even into girls. 

But no one knows that. No one except his cousin who convinced Dongmin that he should give it a shot last week when they met up.

He claims that Dongmin can find a nice balance between his daily life and love life with the right guy, which is why his cousin has set him up with a guy he claims is super lovely and handsome. A guy who his cousin met at a basketball camp in Busan last year. They became quite close and have kept in touch ever since but haven't hung out as much as they'd like to.

Now as Dongmin is waiting for his date at an expensive and dazzling restaurant, he’s regretting going along to this. What if they don't click? What if it gets too awkward? Or what if they like each other? Will he finally date someone? Will it even work?

Dongmin sighs and looks down at the glass of water in his hands.  


"What are you doing here?"

Dongmin looks up, startled by the voice and the person it belongs to.

Park Minhyuk is standing by the table, dressed in tight black jeans and a long grey coat. He's wearing dark brown boots that look like they were just brought out of their package judging from the way they're shining. Dongmin has never seen him dressed up like this. Dongmin has only seen him in his basketball shorts and tank tops or t-shirts at practice or in his hoodies and sweatpants on the way to games or in the boring school uniform. Dongmin knows Minhyuk isn't rich, but his elegant outfit screams the opposite, making him blend in perfectly with the people around them. He is merely breathtaking, Dongmin has to admit that.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Dongmin says with an annoyed tone, forcing himself to stop drooling over his rival.

Minhyuk tilts his head to the side while something flashes in his eyes. He is watching Dongimn, all of Dongmin. His clothes, his shoes, and his hair. For a moment Dongmin feels like Minhyuk can see through him because of the way his piercing gaze is so focused.

"You look nervous, probably waiting for your girlfriend. I didn't know you were dating," Minhyuk finally says. 

Dongmin snorts.

"I'm not nervous, and I'm not dating. You know I don't have time for girls."

"Then do you have time for guys, Dongmin?"

Dongmin's eyes widen and his hands start shaking as his heart beats faster. 

"What the hell?" He whispers angrily and stands up, glaring down at Minhyuk. "What's wrong with you?" Dongmin hisses and grabs Minhyuk by the collar.

"I'm not sure what's wrong with me, I just asked a question," Minhyuk answers nonchalantly, mocking the already mad Dongmin.

"Why would you even ask that? You want the whole restaurant to know?" Dongmin blurts out without thinking. He regrets it immediately and opens his mouth to take it back but slowly closes it when he sees a serious look taking over Minhyuk's face. A small frown forms between his eyebrows, and he shakes his head, looking down on his feet. 

He whispers, "No, of course not. I would never out you."

Dongmin feels confused by the sudden change of Minhyuk's mood and the sincerity behind his words and his eyes, but he also calms down a little, letting go of Minhyuk's coat. He knows he fucked up bad, but right now, his mind doesn’t want to freak out over the fact that Minhyuk knows his secret. Besides, he has always told himself to keep calm if he gets into a situation like this, where someone finds out he's gay.

He glances around to see if anyone is watching them, but no one seems to be interested in anything that isn't the food or the partner in front of them.

"I didn't want to approach you but I didn't have much of a choice when you were seated where I should've met my date at," Minhyuk confesses and Dongmin gasps out loud.

"No fucking way."

"Yeah," Minhyuk mumbles, eyes still on his feet while his cheeks slowly turn pink.

"So, you're also... You also like- Wait, you know my cousin? You're the guy he set me up with?" 

Too many questions are spinning around in Dongmin's head for him to think straight. Minhyuk then, to Dongmin's surprise, chuckles lightly and sits down. As if in a daze Dongmin does the same.

"So you met my cousin at that basketball camp in Busan? And you told him you're... You're-"

"We met at the camp and had a whole week to get close and know each other. All I can say is, your cousin gets things out of one easily. Not in a manipulative way but in a nice way where he makes you feel safe. And yes, I'm gay and very into guys," Minhyuk says with a small smile.

Dongmin nods slowly. For a second, the only thing he can think of is how confidently Minhyuk admitted he's gay and how hot it was. But Dongmin quickly shakes those thoughts off and tries to focus on other things, like how accurate Minhyuk's take on his cousin is. It's just something about him, maybe the positive energy he radiates that makes one feel safe and comfortable. He's friendly and reliable, always there for one, and always offering comfort. 

When the truth about Dongmin's sexuality slipped from his tongue one night at their sleepover a few years ago when it all still was new to Dongmin, his cousin had quickly comforted him and assured him that there was nothing wrong about liking guys. He said that Dongmin surely one day would find another man that would love him to the moon and back. He had offered a significant amount of support and promised he would never tell anyone else.

"This is crazy," Dongmin mumbles.

"Yeah, it is, and I know this is so out of place right now but I'm starving. Can we order something?" Minhyuk says. 

Dongmin stares at him, shocked. It is out of place, but just then, Dongmin feels his stomach growl. Technically they're at a restaurant, so maybe it's not that out of place after all. Dongmin swallows and picks up the menu.

The restaurant is one of those fancy ones where only the rich and high-class can afford to eat at so even though there's a lot of people here this Friday evening, the atmosphere is calm and pretty quiet. Dongmin finds himself relaxing while he considers which one of the many options of delicious foods he should choose. Finally, he makes a decision.

"Are you done?" Dongmin asks Minhyuk, who still has his nose up the menu. He looks so concentrated trying to choose, and Dongmin can't blame him. Every option is just as tempting as the other.

"Yeah, I think I know what I want," Minhyuk answers just when Dongmin was about to ask again. 

Dongmin doesn't waste any time. He calls one of the waiters over.

"We would like to-" Dongmin starts, but before he can finish, Minhyuk is already talking. Dongmin cringes, but of course, Minhyuk isn't experienced with fancy restaurants so he might not know how things work here, but he should at least know how to show some manners.

"I want Kobe beef with roasted potatoes and red wine, please."

Dongmin chokes on his spit. He coughs out loud and has to cover his face. 

The waiter’s face turns pale, and he clears his throat before carefully saying, "Sir, I don't believe you're legal to drink yet. Can you show me your ID?"

Minhyuk frowns and looks confused, confused. He turns to Dongmin, a questioning look mixed with the confusion covering his face. 

Dongmin lets out a nervous laugh and lets his mouth speak on its own.

"My friend is a British citizen visiting right now. He has grown up there, so he goes by their way of living. You see, in England, you can legally drink at the age of eighteen," Dongmin explains to the waiter, no lies to the waiter with a forced smile on his face. Dongmin can't believe he came up with that lie. Stupid Minhyuk seems to like it, judging from the way he winks at Dongmin, looking amused. 

Dongmin forces himself not to act out the will to kick Minhyuk's leg under the table for his absurd idea of actually getting wine or just wanting to embarrass Dongmin.

"I understand, but I can't offer any drinks with alcohol since this is Korea. Here you're legal to drink at the age of twenty," the waiter says slowly and respectfully to Minhyuk.

"Ah," Minhyuk says and looks between the waiter and Dongmin with a fake dumbfounded look on his face.

"He'll have Coke instead," Dongmin says but Minhyuk shakes his head.

"Seven-up, please." The waiter smiles and writes down Minhyuk's order. 

Dongmin wants to punch the teasing smirk off of Minhyuk's face very severely.

"And you, Sir?" 

"I would like to have…" Dongmin pauses at the realization. Minhyuk has ordered the same thing he wants to order. What are the odds of that? Anyhow, Dongmin won't choose something else just because he hates the idea of him and Park Minhyuk craving the same food or the fact that they might have similar tastes.

"I'll have the same but with lemon soda, please." 

"We ordered the same food. Was there nothing else you wanted?" Minhyuk says the moment the waiter turns his back on them after writing down the final orders. 

"Shut up," Dongmin mumbles and leans back in his seat with a tired sigh. 

"I can't believe you made me lie," Dongminn says after a few seconds. 

Minhyuk leans forward with another annoying smirk on his lips. 

"It was a great lie. Even I believed it for a second," Minhyuk says seriously. 

Dongmin laughs at the weird image of Minhyuk believing that he has grown up in England and is now visiting Korea when he barely knows a word in English. Dongmin stops laughing abruptly, sealing his mouth shut. Did he just laugh at something Minhyuk said? What in the world has gone into him this evening?

"Why did you even ask for wine? You can't seriously have thought you would get it," Dongmin says. 

Minhyuk shrugs and looks down at the table. 

"I did believe I would get it," he mumbles. 

Dongmin raises his eyebrows. "We aren't adults yet, so why did you believe the restaurant would serve you wine?" 

"Because I've heard I look old," Minhyuk answers, frustrated but also hurt. 

The answer surprises Dongmin, and he feels... bad for Minhyuk. He's not sure why. He shouldn't care. He should be happy that there is an existing rude remark that has hurt Minhyuk when the things Dongmin tells him never seems to bother him.

Minhyuk is avoiding Dongmin's gaze, awkwardly tapping the table with his fingertips. 

"Who said that?" Dongmin tries not to sound compassionate, but he's not sure if he managed since Minhyuk glares at him angrily before turning away again, looking pretty pissed off. 

"People," is all he says, but Dongmin isn't satisfied with that answer. 

"What people?" 

"Just people, okay? Why do you even care, Dongmin? It doesn't matter. I tried it, and it didn't work. He would have checked my ID anyway, so it was stupid of me to ask for wine. Happy now?" 

Dongmin shakes his head, barely noticeably. Somehow, he manages to hold back from telling Minhyuk that he doesn't think that he looks much older than his real age. 

Dongmin is not sure if he should say it or not, though. After all, there’s no harm in perhaps making Minhyuk feel better by just saying that, but Dongmin feels safer by staying quiet. Minhyuk's angry gaze that Dongmin desperately wants to look away from but for some reason can't scare him a little. It's almost like Minhyuk captures him with his gaze in all kinds of ways. With his kind gaze, his serious gaze, his mocking gaze, and his intimidating gaze.

"So how does it feel like to have something in common with me, Lee Dongmin?" Minhyuk asks after a few minutes of awkward silence, changing the subject, and going back to his usual mocking tone. 

Slowly he starts to take his coat off. Dongmin wants to look away, but once again, he can't. He watches as if each movement bewitches him.

The way Minhyuk rolls up the sleeves to his thin white shirt to his elbows, exposing his muscular forearms makes Dongmin gulp hard. Then Minhyuk unbuttons, not one, not two but three buttons. Three fucking buttons. His chest comes into view, and crazy thoughts strike Dongmin's head while his skin heats up. 

Why does Minhyuk have to strip his coat off and unbutton his shirt so slowly with so much sensuality while staring at Dongmin with an intense gaze? Does he know what he's doing? Is he doing it on purpose?

When Minhyuk smirks at how flushed he made the other, Dongmin can for sure say that Minhyuk knows very well what he's doing and for sure is doing it on purpose. 

"Didn't you hear my question, Dongmin?" Minhyuk asks while running his hand through his hair, tilting his head back and closing his eyes while his lips slightly parts as he brushes through those dark soft-looking hair strands a few times. The next second, his bangs fall back down over his forehead, looking a little bit messy now. It only makes Minhyuk more attractive. 

Dongmin curses under his breath, not over the fact that he finds Minhyuk so damn hot right now but rather over the fact that the blood in his head might have started to rush down south through him. 

"We don't have anything in common, Minhyuk," Dongmin groans out. 

The whole situation is insane. He's turned on. In public. Because of fucking Park Minhyuk. It's the most disgusting shit ever. He tries to calm down by focusing on the conversation between them, but suddenly Minhyuk leans forward over the table, and the air that should be making its way down to Dongmin's lungs gets caught in his throat. Minhyuk's face is so close to his that he can make out his reflection in the shiny gloss of Minhyuk's gorgeous eyes.

"Except for our passion for basketball and our passion for guys, you're right, we don't have anything in common." 

Dongmin feels like he's sucked in by the endless and deep dark of Minhyuk's eyes and he doesn't want to look away. He wants to watch the shining and sparkling stars inside of them the whole night. 

"Why did it have to be you out of all people?" Dongmin whispers with a shaky voice. 

Minhyuk's expression goes blank while his eyes somehow appear darker. He leans back and sits down in his seat. Then, a grin breaks out on his face, and he’s back to normal. "Oh, come on! I'm not that bad," he says. 

Dongmin rolls his eyes but his chest aches. Minhyuk is right. He's not that bad. Not actually. He's just good, too good, and that's why Dongmin can't stop hating him. But oh, how he wishes, he wouldn't have started this rivalry between them. They could have gotten along and become friends. Maybe Minhyuk could've been his first possible love interest. Dongmin would lie if he said he hasn't felt charmed by him more than once, even though he's always either felt disgusted or very desired. 

Their food comes, and the delicious smell puts Dongmin's mind in a haze for a moment.

Minhyuk has just started eating when Dongmin says, "This has not turned into a real date," more to himself than Minhyuk because as horrible as it is, he actually needs to remind himself of that. 

"Who said something like that had happened? I'm not interested in someone who, for some stupid reason, hates me. We'll just be eating, Dongmin, so don't ruin this for me. It's not every day I get to eat at a fancy place like this," Minhyuk says between chews. 

Dongmin understands that Minhyuk isn't interested in him but what he really can't understand is all of that flirting with those sexy movements while he took off his coat and then started unbuttoning the plain white shirt that suits him so well. Maybe it wasn't on purpose after all then. Perhaps, Dongmin is the one starting to get interested in Minhyuk. He quickly ignores those thoughts and starts eating. 

After a few seconds, Dongmin talks again. 

"I'm not paying the bill."

"Why not?" Minhyuk asks without looking up from his food. 

"Why should I?" 

"Your cousin said you would." 

Dongmin snorts and opens his mouth to say that yes, he would have paid but since Minhyuk is his blind date things have changed, but Minhyuk cuts him off before he even can start speaking. 

"Oh, for fuck's sake Dongmin! The amount of money you'll spend on paying the bill is only a small number in contrast to the amount of money in your bank account." 

Dongmin groans. "Why do you always have to be so straightforward?" 

"To be straightforward is a part of me. I’m just myself even though it's kinda hard around you," Minhyuk answers simply. 

A silence falls over them as they continue to eat. 

Dongmin finds himself lingering in thoughts of Minhyuk confessing that it's hard for him to be himself around Dongmin. It doesn't feel right that Dongmin has made another person step back from being themself. Could it be because Dongmin is mean to Minhyuk? Is he scared Dongmin might take it a step further and bully him? But no, Minhyuk isn't a coward. He fights back Dongmin almost all the time and even teases Dongmin on his own. Whatever the reason is, it's because of Dongmin, and that feels wrong enough for him to get a nauseous feeling.

* * *

They finish, and Dongmin pays the bill. 

Dongmin can feel the staring eyes of people they walk by as they make their way towards the exit. They don’t mean anything at all to him, and he barely spends a thought on them, but Minhyuk, on the other hand, seems very taken aback. Dongmin can see in the corner of his eye how uneasy Minhyuk is. His body language and his dark eyes going back and forth make him look silly and naive. 

Dongmin rolls his eyes, but he shouldn’t blame the poor boy. He has probably never been stared at on a regular occasion, an occasion that isn’t a basketball game in other words. 

Being too caught up with staring at the people that are staring at him and Dongmin, Minhyuk stumbles on his feet. Dongmin reaches out and grabs Minhyuk’s arm tightly and pulls him towards himself, saving him from tripping and embarrassing himself in front of everyone. 

They both freeze. Minhyuk is staring right at Dongmin’s throat, his face only centimeters from it. Somehow his hand got placed on Dongmin’s chest while Dongmin is still holding his other arm tightly. 

Dongmin can’t move, and even if he doesn’t like to admit it, he wants to stay this way.

He has never felt anything like this. He has never felt his heart beat so hard and loud before, not even before basketball games. He has never felt trillions of fluttering butterflies inside his stomach before. He has never before felt like a hand on his chest can set him on fire. He has never before wanted to pull the boy in front of him closer to himself and hold him tightly to keep him safe and hidden. 

“Aish, why are you so clumsy, Minhyuk?” Dongmin says and swings his arm over Minhyuk’s shoulder, tugging him close to himself as he starts to walk again. 

Terrified of Minhyuk's reaction to his acting, Dongmin carefully glances down at him.

If they weren't in the situation they are in right now, in view to all those curious eyes, Minhyuk would have very likely punched Dongmin in the gut for the arm over his shoulder. Well, Dongmin wouldn’t even have put his arm over Minhyuk’s shoulder in the first place if it wasn't for how awkwardly close they were just standing there a few seconds ago with hands almost all over each other. If they had just continued to walk after that without a word to each other, it would have been very embarrassing. Dongmin can’t imagine what those rich people who love to gossip and make up rumors would have thought about them. 

Minhyuk seems to understand that because he doesn’t say anything and the expression on his face is impossible to read but the blush on his cheeks, on the other hand, is easy to distinguish. Minhyuk's cheeks are as red as too many layers of rouge would make them.

Cute, Dongmin thinks and allows himself to think for the first time since they met. 

Suddenly, Dongmin realizes Minhyuk has put his arm around Dongmin's waist. It’s Dongmin’s turn to blush as his heart speeds up again. 

He can’t stand these overwhelming emotions anymore. It’s all too much and too confusing; however, one thing is clear. He doesn’t hate having Minhyuk close to himself, and he even likes the soft touches and the feeling of their close bodies. 

It’s crazy how his feelings towards Minhyuk have taken such a turn over one evening of them sitting down and eating a meal together. And Dongmin doesn’t mind. He just hopes he as well has changed in Minhyuk’s eyes and Minhyuk’s heart. 

They’re outside now, and Dongmin is not sure where they’re going, but his feet are moving on their own, leading them down the streets. And they’re still holding onto each other. 

“Will you catch me if I fall for you?” 

“What?” Dongmin stops in his tracks. He steps back, his arm sliding off of Minhyuk’s shoulder at the same time as Minhyuk’s arm leaves his waist. 

Dongmin feels cold, too cold without Minhyuk’s warmth next to him.

Minhyuk smiles faintly. 

“Nothing… I’m taking the bus home-” 

“I'll follow you to the bus stop,” Dongmin hurries to say, which results in his cheeks heating up in an instant. 

Minhyuk looks surprised but at the same time… happy.

They don’t say anything to each other as they walk to the nearest bus stop and sit down inside the bus shelter. 

The quiet evening that's quickly turning into night takes Dongmin away to different places inside his head. He imagines all sorts of things, everything with Minhyuk in it. But the imagination of them playing together as good friends, helping each other in the parts they lack and learning more basketball together feels so far away. Too far away and too hurting. Dongmin almost wants to let everything go and just apologize and beg Minhyuk for forgiveness for his stupid rudeness and rivalry, but he's too selfish and arrogant to do that. 

Dongmin thinks about the very first time he saw Park Minhyuk. It wasn’t at school but at practice the night before. He closes his eyes and lets the memory flash in front of him.

The sharp, high-pitched sound of the whistle made his teammates halt their movements. But not Dongmin, he didn’t stop. He made another dribble, handling the ball smoothly before jumping up, eyes instantly locking on to the point where the net is connected to the rim to then release the ball. 

He watched as it spun in the air before it fell through the basket. The pleasing sound of the ball hitting nothing but the net was like music to Dongmin’s ears.

The next second he quickly made his way over to the usual gathering in the middle of the court before practice officially begun. Tonight was not a usual gathering, though.

There was a guy Dongmin had never seen before standing beside their coach. His concentrated gaze was curiously watching each of his teammates closely, almost as if he was observing them, trying to make out what position they played, how fast they ran, and how strong they were. There was also a shyness over his gaze, making him look away immediately the moment he made eye contact with anyone. However, when his gaze caught Dongmin’s, he didn’t look away.

Large dreamy eyes with an elegant sharpness were shining brightly, looking like the whole universe was settled inside their dark and they were staring at Dongmin who got so nervous he almost started shaking which was very unusual for him.

“Introduce yourself,” their coach told the guy who forced his eyes off of Dongmin, the light pink color on his cheeks slowly fading.

He awkwardly cleared his throat and glanced towards Dongmin again, this time only for a short second before speaking.

“Hello, I’m Park Minhyuk. I just moved to Seoul from Jinju, so I’m just starting to learn the Gyeonggi dialect…” he paused, his cheeks turning pink again.

Sanha, one of the tallest in their team who usually played center and who was much stronger and faster than he might have looked with his lanky body and thin arms and legs, giggled at Minhyuk’s thick and raw Satoori dialect. Dongmin nudged Sanha to shut him up, which he instantly did.

“I-I hope we’ll get along and play well together,” Minhyuk finished, obviously caught off guard and embarrassed over Sanha laughing at his accent.

“We don’t play well, we play perfectly,” Moonbin said and walked up to Minhyuk.

Dongmin couldn’t help but think about how small Minhyuk looked, standing there all nervous and shy in front of Moonbin who may not be a giant but was scary-looking enough to make the opposite team gulp at the sight of his broad shoulders and mega muscular arms.

Dongmin didn’t need another small player on his team. They were already short in height in comparison to the other high school teams in their league. Still, Dongmin had many years of experience in basketball, so he knew very well that it was a big mistake to underestimate another player based on their appearance. Perhaps it was the aura around Minhyuk, or perhaps it was the determined look behind the shyness in his eyes that stopped Dongmin from concluding how skilled Minhyuk was.

“Nice to meet you, Minhyuk. I’m Moonbin. I play forward and sometimes center,” Moonbin said with a welcoming smile that made Minhyuk’s tense posture relax. They shook hands, and then the others started to introduce themselves, and after each person, Minhyuk seemed less nervous because they were all as welcoming as they could.

Then, it was just Dongmin left. He waited a second before clearing his throat and walking up to Minhyuk.

"Lee Dongmin, point guard and captain. Nice to meet you. I hope you'll get used to our playing quickly."

He thought he sounded positive and welcoming alongside the wide smile on his face, but he wasn't sure when Minhyuk wasn't looking into his eyes. His cheeks were once again pink, almost as if he was blushing. Minhyuk was sort of cute with those pink cheeks and that small, shy smile.

Dongmin didn't want the situation to be awkward, but Minhyuk hadn't let go of his hand yet, and he was starting to sweat. Luckily, their coach clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention, and Minhyuk jerked his hand away.

"I've decided that Minhyuk will watch you guys at the start of practice so I want you, Dongmin, to go through our warming up routines and game tactics while I'll explain to Minhyuk."

While warming up and slowly going through their game tactics, Dongmin tried hard to shut out the feeling of nervousness when Minhyuk's sharp gaze was watching him closely. Dongmin never cared about the many eyes of the big crowds at tournaments or their usual games. They never made him feel nervous because when Dongmin was on the court, the only thing that existed was basketball. But right now, he barely knew what he was doing. 

Fortunately, their coach shouted at them to stop and announced that Minhyk would get involved from now on. But they had to go through it again slowly with Minhyuk as a player in their game. Dongmin held in a sigh. He doubted Minhyuk had caught up with much of the tactic. It was not a too complicated one, but it was hard enough to make one's mind exhausted after a tight game where they'd have to concentrate extra hard not to make any mistakes but at the same time switch up their tactics to confuse the opposite team.

Surprisingly, Minhyuk seemed to know what he was doing, and everyone else looked just as surprised as Dongmin. 

Minhyuk's feet were light and fast as he ran and dribbled. The way he handled the ball showed that he was a very skilled ball handler. 

Oh, of course. Why hadn't Dongmin thought of that? Minhyuk was a guard. He was born to be a guard. With his rather short height and kind of slender but muscular body, he looked exactly like the ideal guard. 

In their team, only a few of them were good enough with the ball to play guard, and Dongmin was the best, so at games, people would mostly see him dribble the ball across the court and give the green light to their aggressive offensives.

"Nice! Let's do it again. This time, I want Minhyuk as guard," their coach said. 

For a second no one moved, but then Minhyuk was in front of him, that small, shy smile covering his sweaty face. Dongmin's heart fluttered. He nervously smiled back and stepped back to stand with Hyun-Tae, the person who mostly played Dongmin's position when he got to rest on the bench. 

They high fived and then Hyun-Tae leaned in close to whisper in Dongmin's ear.

"I can already tell, that Minhyuk guy is really good."

Dongmin shrugged and whispered back, "Let's not judge him too soon. We'll have to see him in-game to know for sure."

"True but he's already confident with the tactics and you can't deny he's got some nice ball-handling skills," Hyun-Tae responded. 

Dongmin knew Hyun-Tae was right, but he didn't want to admit it. He should have been happy a good player had joined their team, but he only felt anxious. How would this affect Dongmin, who was known as the best player? Would he still be the most feared and unstoppable player on the court when Minhyuk had joined their team? 

The blood in Dongmin's veins got cold, and a bitter taste filled his mouth the longer he watched Minhyuk because Minhyuk was good. Actually not just good but amazing. His dribbling skills were sick. Dongmin was sure no defender would ever steal the ball from him. He made some nice layups too, and it was evident that he had focused a lot on how to dodge the tall kids who blocked almost everyone. 

In conclusion, Park Minhyuk had to be one of the smoothest players Dongmin had ever seen for their age.

There's not anything special about their first encounter. Dongmin had forced himself to dislike Minhyuk after he saw how amazing he was. He had forced himself to see Minhyuk as a competitor who was trying to come for his title as the best player. 

Automatically, the memory of the second time they saw each other, which was outside school the next day, shows up in Dongmin's mind. 

His driver dropped Dongmin off a block before the streets that lead to school, claiming Dongmin's dad had told him to hurry to the company for some unknown reason.

As Dongmin slowly got closer to school, he saw Park Minhyuk outside the school gates, just standing there awkwardly. He was pulling his tie towards different directions with an uncomfortable look on his face. 

The school uniform looked good on him. Even though he wasn't that tall, he wore it well. 

Dongmin thought about his options. Either he could walk up to Minhyuk and lead him into school like a nice person or he could walk by and say hi or he could just ignore him and pretend he hadn’t seen him.

Dongmin had to remind himself not to be too sweet to his new teammate and competitor when he didn't think about what option to choose and just walked up to him.

"Hi."

Minhyuk spun around. His eyes widened, and he blinked a few times as if he couldn't believe what he saw in front of him.

"Oh, hi," he responded shyly with a tiny smile. He was somewhat cute when he was shy, and Dongmin couldn't help but smile back even though he didn't want to.

"Do you feel better?" Minhyuk asked and looked up at Dongmin with big innocent eyes. 

It took a second for Dongmin to remember that he had lied about not feeling quite well last night after practice to avoid playing with Minhyuk, Hyun-Tae, and Moonbin who had suggested they play a two versus two street basketball game before going home.

"Ah, yeah, yeah, I'm good," Dongmin assured Minhyuk who nodded and looked away while his trembling fingers kept pulling at his tie.

"Why are you standing here? Not gonna walk in?" Dongmin asked.

"Well, uh… It's my first day, so I don't know, uhm, where to go, I guess," Minhyuk mumbled.

"Hey, relax, you'll be fine, but please let go of your tie first. It looks like a mess, and it's stressing me out," Dongmin said and smacked Minhyuk's hand away from his tie. Then, Dongmin didn't know what came over him when he leaned down and gently took the tie in his hands, fixing the messy way it was loosely hanging down Minhyuk's new uniform. Minhyuk let out a small gasp, but Dongmin didn’t look at him to see what was wrong or most likely see the surprised look on his face. 

When the realization of what he was doing hit him, he felt how he blushed. Dongmin cursed himself inside his head but didn't pull away.

"I hope I didn't tie it too hard," Dongmin said quietly and forced himself to look at Minhyuk who was a flushed mess, much like Dongmin himself.

"No, it's good. Uh, thanks, Dongmin."

It was the first time Minhyuk said his name, and Dongmin had never heard anyone say it with so much... softness. His heart skipped a beat, and he was blushing again.

"Park Minhyuk, Lee Dongmin!"

They both turned to the loud voice in sync. It was Moonbin running towards them with a huge smile on his face.

"What are you guys doing here? We start in like five," he said a little breathlessly and pointed towards school with his thumb. 

Dongmin didn't say anything and just started walking. He didn't bother to stop when he heard Moonbin shout after him to wait for them.

“I’ll be leaving then…” 

Minhyuk’s voice startles Dongmin. He turns to look at him, but Minhyuk is standing up, slowly moving towards the bus that has already come. 

Dongmin quickly gets up on his feet and follows Minhyuk.

“Uh, thanks for tonight… I guess... The food was good and… See you at the game on Sunday!” Minhyuk says with a nervous chuckle before entering the bus. 

"I'll catch you if you fall for me, Minhyuk. I promise." 

Minhyuk freezes at the first step inside the bus. He turns around with big shocked eyes. He opens his mouth, and it looks like he's about to move towards Dongmin, but just then, the bus driver closes the door, setting a barrier between them and muting Minhyuk's voice. But Dongmin knows what he said, he could read it on Minhyuk's lips. He said his name, Dongmin. 

Could he have said it with the same devastating softness as the first time Minhyuk called his name? Could he possibly have said something more if the bus driver hadn't closed the door? Sadly, Dongmin will never find out.

The bus starts driving, forcing Minhyuk further inside the bus. While he stumbles and dips down in one of the empty seats, he keeps eye contact with Dongmin, who is smiling at him softly. 

The bus gets further away, and soon neither one of them can see the other. 

Minhyuk sighs and leans back in his seat. He doesn’t want to think about what Dongmin said. Not right now. He’ll have plenty of time to do that later. Instead, he just closes his eyes, trying to hold onto the sight of Dongmin's soft and pretty smile that makes him feel something he can't describe with words, something that spreads warmth into his chest. 

Dongmin stays in his spot even when the bus is out of sight. He doesn't dare to move when his heart is still pounding hard and loudly. 

"Please catch me too if I fall for you, Minhyuk." 

His whisper disappears into the cold night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> If you liked it and would want to read more, please let me know! I could maybe write a second part that takes place at the game on Sunday. 
> 
> Once again, thanks for reading! Stay safe and don't forget to rest and drink some water <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> Sorry for being so slow with this second part. It's not the end so I hope you'll like to tune in for a third part which should have been included here but I didn't like to have too many time skips in one chapter :)  
> Enjoy!

Today is not a day Dongmin can lazily stay in bed for exactly five minutes after waking up, an odd routine he has. Today is Sunday, and it's game day. 

They'll play their first basketball game against a team from Sokcho that plays in the Gangwon high school basketball league. They're on the top of their league and have been the whole season. They requested a training game with a team from Seoul, and Dongmin's team got chosen.

Dongmin believes it'll be fun to play against a whole new team with players he has never seen before, but it will also be tough. If that team is first in their league, they're outstanding. 

Dongmin's team fell from first to third this season, and Dongmin likes to think it's because of Minhyuk joining their team, but it's actually because of Dongmin being a shit captain and leader who picked on his new teammate and made him his rival for simple reasons. Now Dongmin cringes when he thinks about it.

Ever since he came home from his blind date with Minhyuk Dongmin hasn't been able to get him out of his head. He has been thinking about Minhyuk and Minhyuk only the whole weekend. 

They only get two Saturdays off in a month, and now Dongmin has spent one of them studying and thinking about Minhyuk. It’s kinda ironic.

Dressed in black training trousers and a navy blue t-shirt under his white zip-up hoodie, Dongmin excitedly hurries down the stairs with his basketball backpack that he made sure to get ready last night. 

“Good morning, Dongmin,” Jangmi, their housemaid for years, greets him while she sets down different bowls and plates on their large white dining table. 

“Good morning,” Dongmin answers as he sits down. “My parents aren’t awake?” 

“They work so hard, Dongmin-ah. We should let them sleep. After all, it’s a quarter past five in the morning,” she says and disappears into the kitchen. 

Dongmin stares at the warm breakfast in front of him. That explains why she only set the table for one person. He sighs and starts eating. 

“What’s that? Dongmin, do you have a game today?” Jangmi suddenly asks when she turns up again, pointing at his bag with her skinny arm and slender finger. 

Dongmin swallows down the food and stares at her. 

“Yes…” 

“Aigoo! I don’t think your parents know! I need to hurry and call your driver. I had a feeling your dad shouldn’t have given him the weekend off. I hope he didn’t go away with his family,” Jangmi says worriedly as she once again disappears into the kitchen, probably to make the call. 

Dongmin isn’t surprised by now that his parents have forgotten he has a game. It’s not the first time, but it still hurts. It still feels like they don’t care about him. It feels like they only care about his grades that must be perfect and not about Dongmin, their son who doesn’t want to be a doctor, or a prosecutor, or a CEO like his father. They don’t care about how he feels or how hard he’s working to satisfy them, all to be able to do what he wants, which is to play basketball. 

Dongmin’s parents never show up at his basketball games. They’ve never supported his dream of becoming a professional basketball player. Dongmin hates that he's thankful they’re even letting him play and practice. Well, they do have a condition, he must do well in school and not miss any homework or assignments.

“He’s not answering. What do we do? Should I call over a driver from the company?”

“It’s okay. I’ll take the bus,” Dongmin says with a reassuring smile to calm Jangmi, who looks so stressed. 

The wrinkle between her eyebrows deepens, and she bites her dry lips. 

“Are you sure?” She asks and walks up to Dongmin, stroking his head. 

Their housemaid has always cared for Dongmin like his own mother, if not even more. She’s the one who looks after him when he’s sick while she still has to do her duties. She’s the one who brings him snacks when he’s studying and forces him to take breaks. All Dongmin's mother does is buying him all sorts of expensive things, but her shopping dates once in a month are getting old and boring. The only thing she talks about is Dongmin's grades and planned out future of studying at one of the best universities in Seoul and getting married to a girl from a wealthy family or one of the big shareholder's families when they'll need to boost the company's state of affairs.

“I’m sure,” he says and hugs Jangmi, inhaling the scent that she carries, the smell that reminds him of home. A home where he's truly loved for who he is.

She chuckles and keeps stroking his head until she pulls away and tells him to finish his food since he needs to have a lot of energy for the game.

* * *

Dongmin walks around the main school buildings and up to their big school gym where their fine basketball court is. When Dongmin gets closer, he sees a figure by the entrance. It's Minhyuk in his grey sweatpants, and today he's wearing a black long sleeve shirt instead of his usual hoodies. 

Now Dongmin is witnessing something that makes him feel weird things like his heart beating faster while a warmth spreads around it and through his chest and out through his whole body. 

Minhyuk has his in-ear headphones plugged in his phone that he's holding in a tight grip in his hand as he sways back and forth to the music in his ears. His eyes are closed, and his body seems to be relaxed while it moves in a way called dance. 

Dongmin finds himself staring at Minhyuk's hips and the way they move so smoothly and effortlessly. Dongmin feels his cheeks heat up, but he can't look away; he doesn't want to. 

Then, Minhyuk does some slow and sensual body rolls, making Dongmin's heart skip a beat, and he's left breathless. Minhyuk slows his dancing down with a turn that looks oddly satisfying.

Dongmin gets a chance to calm down while Minhyuk is only moving his head and arms along to the music in some weird and small movements, looking cute and squishy.

Dongmin blinks a few times. He almost can't believe the boy that's dancing so cutely right now was so sexy just moments ago. 

A small smirk shows up on his lips the more he thinks about Minhyuk's duality.

Dongmin doesn't know for how long he'll stand there. Shockingly, he wouldn't mind watching Minhyuk dance for hours. Even if he's not trained in dancing, it's obvious that he has the feel and talent. Minhyuk is great in almost everything. 

Dongmin feels his good old jealousy wake up, but now he ignores it because his mind isn’t functioning. It's just full of the sight of Minhyuk dancing.

Dongmin decides that he has had enough of staring at Minhyuk and walks up to him. He stops a few steps away, just to make sure Minhyuk doesn't dance into him if he starts moving too much again. 

Dongmin clears his throat. "Hi," he says. 

Minhyuk shows no signs of hearing him. He even starts humming to a tune, probably from the song he's listening to. 

Dongmin isn't sure if he's doing it on purpose or not, but after the things that have happened between them, he's fast to believe that Minhyuk isn't ignoring him on purpose.

Dongmin bites his lower lip and scratches his neck. Should he call out for him again or-

Suddenly Minhyuk opens his eyes, catching Dongmin off guard as they instantly lock eyes. 

Minhyuk looks genuinely surprised. He quickly takes out his in-ear headphones and pauses the music.

"Dongmin, oh, hi," Minhyuk says nervously, twisting the headphone wire between his fingers. 

"Hi, what are you doing here so early?" Dongmin asks and hesitates before walking past Minhyuk to put his backpack down next to the wide glass entrance, just where Minhyuk's similar basketball packing is placed. 

When he turns around Minhyuk has followed him, and he sits down on the ground, back resting against the wall next to the entrance. 

Dongmin hesitates again before he also sits down next to Minhyuk. Their knees touch. He quickly brings them up to his chin and tries to force down the blush that's creeping up his face over that small touch.

"My dad was needed at work, so he had to drop me off early on his way," Minhyuk explains. 

"How long have you been here?" Dongmin asks with the hope of getting a conversation going. 

"Maybe half an hour or so... Why are you here so early?" 

"I, well... I didn't have a ride, so to avoid getting late, I took the bus and ended up here earlier," Dongmin answers. 

It's still hard to not expect the rude and teasing comments and the mocking tone in Minhyuk's voice as he says them. So automatically Dongmin clenches his jaw and waits for Minhyuk to say something like, You didn't have a ride when you have a private driver? or maybe, So for once you're not spoiled. I would say "Welcome to the club," but the club doesn't accept sad rich boys.

Minhyuk doesn't say anything like that. He's just quietly looking at Dongmin, who doesn't know what to do except stare back.

Minhyuk's dark eyes don't look tired or sleepy at this early hour of six AM. They are shining and sparkling as they always do in the dark and in the light, anywhere, and at any time. 

Dongmin is sure he'll soon get too nervous to keep looking into Minhyuk's eyes. He's sure he'll be the first one to look away, but the more Dongmin stares into the galaxy inside of them, the more he wants to stare.

"I like the way you dance," he whispers spontaneously. 

In an instant, Minhyuk blushes and turns away, being the first one to break the intense eye contact.

"You saw?" he asks with a small voice without looking at Dongmin.

“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t mean to… stare,” Dongmin says, mentally slapping himself over how stupid he is for admitting that he likes the way Minhyuk dance and then saying he didn't mean to stare. Sometimes, he's brainless and not the smart kid with heavenly good looks he's known as.

An awkward silence falls over them, shutting them up and making them nervously squirm and fumble with random things like the hem of their tops or their phones. 

With a lot of hesitation and fear, Minhyuk holds out the left in-ear of his headphones to Dongmin. 

“Do you want to listen? It’s my basketball playlist. It’s got some nice songs on it, the kind that hypes you up,” Minhyuk says shyly and uncertainly.

Dongmin smiles and takes it, putting it in his ear. Minhyuk does the same with the other in-ear and plays the playlist. 

Dongmin quickly realizes that Minhyuk is right. The songs are full of energy, and they hype him up. It’s perfect for an early morning basketball game. Dongmin also realizes that this is like a scene out of a drama. The leads are sitting next to each other, sharing headphones and listening to music. It's exactly like that except that the leads never are two males.

Just when Dongmin is about to tell Minhyuk his playlist is good to boost his confidence that's usually so high, and on point, Minhyuk rips out the headphones and puts his phone volume on full. 

He takes Dongmin's hand and pulls him up. Dongmin almost gasps out loud in surprise and stares at his hand in Minhyuk’s with wide eyes. His heart is tripping, and his mind is spinning, all because of Minhyuk's hand. It feels so… soft and warm.

“W-what are you doing?” Dongmin asks nervously.

Minhyuk looks up and smiles at him brightly yet shyly and for a second Dongmin is reminded of their first encounters. He gets reminded of Minhyuk's shy and soft side. 

"We should dance!” 

“D-dance?” Dongmin stutters out. 

Minhyuk laughs and nods eagerly. Dongmin opens his mouth to argue, but Minhyuk is already dancing, dragging him along. Dongmin can’t dance. There's no way he’ll even try to dance in front of Minhyuk, who looks madly good while dancing. 

“Come on, Dongmin!” 

"No, I can't dance!" Dongmin says, but Minhyuk only brushes Dongmin's objections off. 

"Everyone can dance. Just move the way you feel and the way you want to the music, the beat, and the melody," Minhyuk says and closes his eyes while he boldly takes Dongmin's other hand.

Minhyuk sways their hands from side to side, and the whole time his eyes are closed while the same bright smile is stuck on his lips. 

Finally, Dongmin gives in and moves, trying to copy Minhyuk's smooth and easy moves.

It’s kinda fun. Soon, Dongmin is smiling just as brightly as Minhyuk, who opens his eyes to look at Dongmin. Somehow Minhyuk smiles wider, and it hits Dongmin like a truck how beautiful Minhyuk’s smile is. 

In Dongmin’s eyes, Minhyuk is one of the most handsome boys he’s ever met. But the Korean society doesn’t think so, and Dongmin can’t care less when he can see how pretty Minhyuk is while looking so happy in front of him as their fingers intertwine.

The song ends, and another one that sounds very different comes on. It's not pop or hip hop. 

“Oh, I must have accidentally put this song on the playlist. Anyway, since it’s a slow song, we should slow dance,” Minhyuk says, carefully looking up at Dongmin with a small blush on his cheeks. 

The hope and happiness in his eyes and the way he’s smiling adorably and shyly make Dongmin’s heart melt. How can he say no when Minhyuk is looking at him like that? How can he say that the song doesn’t sound that slow? He can't and doesn’t want to, but he feels like a proper sentence won't leave his mouth right now, so he just nods and lets Minhyuk guide his hands down to his thin waist. Minhyuk puts his arms around Dongmin’s neck, pulling himself closer. Dongmin’s breath hitch and his body start to tremble nervously. He bites his lower lip and makes a silent prayer that Minhyuk can’t feel how he’s shaking. Dongmin barely dares to breathe. They've never been this close before, and Dongmin doesn't mind. He remembers liking the feeling of their close bodies two days ago too.

“Is this okay?” Minhyuk whispers. 

“Yeah,” Dongmin manages to breathe out. 

Then they move, swaying. Not to the beat but just swaying slowly in small movements on the same place.

A woman starts singing, and Dongmin focuses on the song, hoping his heart can calm down and stop beating so wildly. 

He can make out backing up sounds like drum, piano, string instrumentation, claps, and step stomps that sets a spiritualized atmosphere. It sounds like a pop ballad, just the kind of music Dongmin likes.

There are certain lines and verses Dongmin catches and thinks about deeply. At the same time, he gets lost in the feeling of Minhyuk's warm body almost pressed against his and Minhyuk's fresh smell of male deodorant together with the early morning nature smell hanging around them, likely coming from the many trees around the school. 

Remember those walls I built  
Well, baby, they're tumbling down  
And they didn't even put up a fight  
They didn't even make a sound

That sounds too familiar. It's almost like the walls Dongmin built around himself to not let the shy yet confident basketball player in his arms get close to him because of Dongmin's desperate desire to be the best. Walls he built after realizing his sexuality and how slim the chances were for him to find true love. 

Now those walls are tumbling down, fast without even trying to keep themselves up. Minhyuk has captivated him with his tenderness and sweetness, with his true colors and personality. He has made Dongmin forget about how he hated Minhyuk. It's almost like those short three months of them hating each other, and competing never happened when Dongmin is here right now, dancing with Minhyuk in a way he has never danced with anyone else before. 

Dongmin admits to himself that he's feeling content and relaxed like this with Park Minhyuk. He also admits that he might want Minhyuk to be his true love.

Hit me like a ray of sun  
Burning through my darkest night  
You're the only one that I want  
Think I'm addicted to your light

Minhyuk turns his head and looks up at Dongmin. His starry eyes are shining so brightly, and the happiness, love, and calm inside of them make Dongmin wonder if he perhaps is looking down on Minhyuk with the same emotions captured in his own eyes because he is feeling them strongly. 

When Minhyuk smiles, all Dongmin can think of is how Minhyuk is precisely like a ray of sun, burning through his darkest night. Dongmin believes he might be addicted to his light because inside this moment Minhyuk is all he wants and the only one he's ever wanted.

Dongmin leans down a little, carefully pressing their foreheads together as a content sigh escapes his lips. 

Minhyuk stops moving and slowly runs his hand through Dongmin's hair while his other softly caresses Dongmin's nape in repeating circles.

Even when the song ends and switches to one with a high tempo and addicting chorus, they stay still and quiet in the warm embrace that's speaking words they're not quite ready to voice yet.

* * *

When the whole team arrives, the janitor also shows up and unlocks the building but then quickly disappears to switch on lights and fix seats and other things. 

Dongmin and Minhyuk don't talk at all. They barely dare to look at each other after the slow dance that had ended up with them just basically hugging.

Even in the locker room they don’t talk to each other but are hyped-up and full of energy unlike everyone else in their team who still haven’t fully woken up. Dongmin can’t help but feel a little bad for their opponents. They probably had to wake up super early to get here exactly one hour before the game that starts at seven forty-five.

Now as they're putting on their basketball jerseys and shorts in dark blue with prints of numbers and names in white, Dongmin hates himself for glancing towards Minhyuk while he’s dressing but he can’t stop the urge.

The sight he sees affects him in the same way it always does, but now he feels things he has never felt this strongly before. Minhyuk has his jersey in one hand and is just about to put it over his head, which leaves his chest and abs completely exposed for Dongmin to stare at while his whole body heats up. 

His cheeks are probably red, maybe his neck is too, but he can’t stop staring even when Minhyuk pulls the clothing down over him, his back muscles popping out with the movement.

The next second Dongmin regrets not looking away when he had the chance because he gets caught red-handed. Dongmin feels himself shrink in embarrassment, his shoulders tensing.

Dongmin tries to escape Minhyuk’s piercing gaze, but Minhyuk is like a magnet, always drawing Dongmin in. Their eyes meet, and Dongmin relaxes when he sees that Minhyuk doesn't seem offended or disgusted over Dongmin staring at his exposed skin, but that doesn't make Dongmin feel less embarrassed. 

Minhyk’s lips curve up at the side into a tiny smug smile. Then, he puts his hands on his chest before working them down his body while staring at Dongmin. Dongmin’s eyes widen when Minhyuk’s hands travel lower and lower. They come to a stop by his shorts’ waistband. Minhyuk looks away from Dongmin to lift his jersey, showing off his abs before he tucks the tank top inside the shorts. 

Dongmin is now convinced Minhyuk is a tease. He remembers very well the way Minhyuk had taken off his coat and unbuttoned his shirt at their blind date and now this... He's going to get haunted by these things Minhyuk does, most likely at night in his dreams and Dongmin is not happy about that. He isn't... Or so he tries to convince himself.

When Minhyuk is about to turn towards Dongmin again, hands moving slowly and with too much sensuality over his body, Dongmin inhales sharply and quickly turns his back towards Minhyuk.

In the process of trying to get away from witnessing Minhyuk’s next move, Dongmin bumps his head on Hyun-Tae’s open locker next to him with a loud bang. 

He groans in pain, hand instantly flying up to his head where the pain pulsates through it, making him see stars for a second before he squeezes his eyes shut.

“Jesus, Dongmin! Are you okay?” Hyun-Tae asks worriedly, shutting his locker out of the way and reaching out for Dongmin.

“I’m fine,” Dongmin says, shutting up the others around them who also asks if he’s okay. 

Dongmin forces his hands away from his head even though it still hurts and takes a deep breath. He turns around and glares at Minhyuk, who has a hand over his mouth, trying to keep his laughter in. He mouths, sorry, with a big smile that doesn't make him look sorry for what his actions led to at all. He then grabs his water bottle and goes to fill it. 

Dongmin rolls his eyes but can feel how a smile similar to Minhyuk's big one breaks out on his face.

He keeps smiling to himself, happy and bubbly. The feelings are weird just like the fact that he’s not mad or annoyed at Minhyuk for causing him to hit his head on the locker.

* * *

It’s the beginning of the game, and both teams are chasing each other with only two or three points between them. 

Minhyuk runs over to the sideline where Dongmin is waiting. He holds out his hand, and Dongmin takes it, giving it a light squeeze before letting go. Just when he’s about to run out on the court, he gets held back by Minhyuk. 

"Number ten is left-handed, watch out," he whispers in Dongmin's ear before stepping back. 

Dongmin somehow manages to keep his body from jolting because of the shiver that runs down his spine when the hot air from Minhyuk's mouth hits his neck.

His eyes drift away to the guy Minhyuk is talking about. He just made his change with one of their guards. It's his first appearance in today's game, just like Dongmin.

"How do you-" 

"Just trust me," Minhyuk says while walking back towards the bench, his eyes not leaving Dongmin for a second. 

Dongmin swallows and quickly runs out on the court before the referees can get impatient. 

"I got ten!" Dongmin shouts to his teammates and stands an arm’s length away from the guy. 

Dongmin doesn't have time to dwell on whether Minhyuk told the truth or not. He'll have to trust him. They're not the same old enemies who would do anything to push the other down to take the spotlight for themselves. Minhyuk wouldn't lie to Dongmin to embarrass him when he takes a defending position on the left side of the guy, opening up the right. No, he wouldn't do that, not any longer. 

Dongmin can see the look of surprise on the guy's face when he gets the ball and wants to attack but doesn't because Dongmin is blocking his left side even though it only lasts for a split second before he passes and runs through the lane and back out to the three-point line. 

Relief flows through Dongmin. Minhyuk told the truth. He somehow actually knew that the guy with number ten on his yellow jersey is left-handed and Dongmin made the right choice by trusting Minhyuk.

Dongmin can’t imagine how Minhyuk would have felt if he saw Dongmin choosing to ignore his words. It would've been like Dongmin saying, I don’t give a shit about everything that has happened between us, you’re stupid for thinking I would ever trust you. So perhaps he proved that's the complete opposite of what he now feels by showing that he can trust Minhyuk.

Number ten gets the ball again, and this time he’s faster. He dribbles past Dongmin on the left and goes for a layup, but Dongmin blocks him from behind, hitting the ball hard enough to send it flying out of bounds. 

The sound of the audience that includes parents and some people from their school cheering and shouting together with Dongmin's team fill his ears. 

He wants to look over at Minhyuk, but he can’t lose focus. His mind needs to be on the game and the game only, not on Minhyuk. 

Even though Dongmin doesn’t think about him and doesn’t look over to where he’s sitting on their bench as the opposite team gets ready to pass in the ball from behind the baseline, he can feel Minhyuk’s eyes on him. He can feel Minhyuk’s smile, and it’s all he needs to get encouraged to go harder than he ever has in a basketball game before.

* * *

Twenty minutes, two quarters that take up half of the game is now played and their team is leading with thirteen points. Dongmin and Minhyuk are down in the locker room, refilling their water bottles with Hyun-Tae. 

"You think we're gonna win this?" Minhyuk suddenly asks, directing the question to both Dongmin and Hyun-Tae. 

"If you play the way you did the last minutes of the second quarter, stealing the ball and getting those open layups and making every three-pointer then yeah, we're surely gonna win," Dongmin responds with a smile. 

For a second Dongmin is afraid he went too far because that sounded too much like flirting and not just like his first time complimenting Minhyuk's awesome playing. And flirting isn't something Dongmin will do with Minhyuk, not a chance. But then, because of the way Minhyuk blushes and ducks his head, trying to hide the blush that Dongmin already has seen, Dongmin wants to flirt and try to come up with all sorts of cheesy pick-up lines to say so that he can see Minhyuk blush like that again. God, he loves Minhyuk's blush and his cute, shy smile. 

"You two seem to be getting along," Hyun-Tae says, sounding slightly amused than surprised like anyone else would've been.

"Barely," Minhyuk snorts

"What are you saying?" Dongmin whines and nudges Minhyuk in the side playfully. 

Minhyuk just laughs and assures Dongmin's he's only joking. 

"So you are getting along... Weird," Hyun-Tae says and disappears.

Minhyuk giggles and takes Dongmin's hand, leading him out of the locker room even though Dongmin hasn’t refilled his water bottle enough but he doesn't say anything and just goes along, happy that Minhyuk feels like he can take Dongmin's hand because he can, and Dongmin wants him to do that as often as possible, maybe even all the time.

* * *

Their coach calls for a timeout with five seconds left of the game. Five seconds. They're down by only two points. If they play these last seconds right, they can win or at least get a five-minute addition. 

"Dongmin, Minhyuk, you're going in together."

Dongmin can see how everyone awkwardly exchange worried and surprised looks or stiffens, looking horrified. 

Obviously, everyone gets a flashback of that game they lost because of that one time Minhyuk and Dongmin went in and refused to work together. They didn’t pass each other once, not even when the other had the best chances to score or when they were the only player open. 

At the end of the game, Dongmin had ended up raging and almost punching Minhyuk if Moonbin hadn’t held him back at the last second. Minhyuk had been just as frustrated, but unlike Dongmin, he didn’t even have the patience to hold his anger back. He had pushed and yelled at Dongmin while the opposite team was attacking. 

Honestly, they couldn’t have embarrassed themselves in a worse way. How often do you see two players from the same team fight each other like that in-game? It was too humiliating for everyone on their side. 

After that game, their coach never again put them in the game at the same time no matter what game it was and no matter how important it was for them to win. He didn’t even consider bringing in one of them when the other was on the court. 

He had gotten so mad that he had clearly and determinedly said that they would either get along and play well or wouldn’t play at all. And with, wouldn’t play at all, he meant that they wouldn’t play together at all which Dongmin and Minhyuk didn't mind until they started losing games they were leading in at the beginning and would have won if the two best players in their team had played the last minutes. Believe it or not, two excellent players make a lot of difference to the game and the way it all plays out. It affects the morale and mental of their teammates and the opponents too. 

But now, their teammates shouldn’t be that surprised or worried. All of them, including their coach, had seen how Minhyuk and Dongmin weren’t fighting each other or bothering each other today. They had seen them giving high fives to each other when they switched to rest or play. Usually, they didn’t even look at each other. They would always run straight to the bench while the other would run out on the court.

Their coach starts drawing on the board. 

“I want Minhyuk to make the inbound pass to Moonbin who takes a high post position. Dongmin will go to screen Sanha at the low post on the other side and then run up to Moonbin, who will give him the ball through a dribble handoff outside the three-point line. Meanwhile, Minhyuk’s defender should have left him to help defend Moonbin and then Dongmin when they get the ball. Minhyuk is open as he runs down to the corner here, and Dongmin passes him. Minhyuk shoots a three-pointer, and we win the game.” 

Some guys hum and nod while others only look anxious. Dongmin knows what they’re all thinking. Will Dongmin really pass him? or What if Minhyuk doesn’t make the three-pointer?

It doesn't matter how good Minhyuk is and the fact that he misses like one time out of ten. He will feel the pressure once he gets on the court and gets the ball. It can turn out as that one out of ten times where he misses.

“If Minhyuk isn’t open, then you’ll have to take the shot Dongmin, understand? We only have five seconds left of the game. Don’t waste them.” 

Dongmin nods. His heart is pounding hard in his chest. 

Deep down, he hopes Minhyuk will be open so he can pass him. There’s a bigger chance of winning the game if Minhyuk takes the shot since he has always been a better shooter than Dongmin, but at the same time, that strong competitiveness is gnawing the inside of him. Dongmin wants to shoot the three-pointer himself. If he makes it he’ll be the star of the game but if Minhyuk is open….

They stand up and gather around in a circle, hands on top of hands. 

“One, two, three, fighting!” they shout in unison while they raise their hands towards the high ceiling.

The moment Dongmin steps out on the court and makes his way over to his position, he knows what he'll do. He knows that both he and Minhyuk have had enough of letting each other, themselves, and their whole team down because of their petty fights and stubbornness. 

Then the referee hands the ball over to Minhyuk, who looks unusually anxious behind the sideline. They now have five seconds to get the ball out on the court, and when that happens, they only have five seconds to make a shot, or else they'll lose the game. 

Dongmin hurries over to Sanha, placing the screen on his defender, turning around and leaving the mess of players in the lane. 

He's open when he takes the ball from Moonbin behind the three-point line. He concentrates on the basket, but in the corner of his eye, he can see a defender that should be Minhyuk's getting closer and closer to him. Behind him, Dongmin can see that Minhyuk is already in the corner of the court, wide open and ready for Dongmin's pass. 

Dongmin doesn't hesitate when he makes an overhead pass to Minhyuk, who catches the ball smoothly despite the power of the pass. He jumps up and shoots the three-pointer from the most challenging position to make three-pointers. That doesn't mean Minhyuk will miss though, he rarely does but now… he misses. The ball bounces on the rim and over it, falling to the other side.

Dongmin thinks that it's all over and that they lost the game, but just then, with barely one second left, Hyun-Tae jumps up with a defender almost glued to his side and catches the ball. He shoots it before landing on the ground and scores just when the time is out, and the buzzer rings loudly through the arena.

Hyun-Tae lands hard on the ground because of the defender pushing him, and it looks like his foot gets hurt.

Both referees whistle and hold up their arms and their hands are closed in a fist, meaning that was a foul. They'll get a free throw, and if they make it, they'll win the game, but if they don't, it will be five-minute addition. 

Dongmin doesn't celebrate. He runs over to Hyun-Tae, who is rolling on the ground, hands holding his leg. His foot looks… crooked to the side and shit… that must hurt, and the look on Hyun-Tae's face confirms that it hurts like hell. 

"Hyun-Tae, it's okay, you'll be okay," Dongmin mumbles, trying to calm his close friend, but he doesn't seem to hear Dongmin. 

Their coach hurries over with bandages and sports tape. He carefully takes Hyun-Tae's space purple basketball shoes off, which makes him groan out loud in pain. Then their coach quickly starts rolling the bandage around and around Hyun-Tae's foot to prevent the injury from possibly getting worse. 

Minhyuk is kneeling beside Hyun-Tae's head, stroking his hair and whispering comforting words. Dongmin watches Minhyuk and his gentle touches and the way he's speaking slowly and clearly with a dark low voice. Dongmin hasn't seen Minhyuk like this before. He looks so worried and every time Hyun-Tae groans and squirms in pain Minhyuk's eyebrows furrow, and it almost looks like he's in pain too. The two of them aren't even that close, not what Dongmin knows.

Minhyuk is shy but friendly, so everyone in the team likes him and is fairly good friends with him but not in the way Minhyuk is friends with Moonbin and Sanha. They're like the perfect example of best friends forever. If not with both of them, Minhyuk is always with one of them. Dongmin used to think that they're close because they take the same classes, but he quickly realized the three of them love hanging out with each other and cares about each other deeply. Dongmin always felt jealous when he saw them together. Hyun-Tae might be his closest friend, but Dongmin can never spend as much time as he wants with him, so honestly, they're not as close as best friends are. 

Dongmin's teammates help Hyun-Tae up on his feet. Dongmin quickly stands up and lets his friend put his arm around his neck while he does the same with Minhyuk on his other side. Like that, they slowly make their way over to their bench with Hyun-Tae jumping on one leg. 

“Dongmin.”

Dongmin turns towards the voice calling out for him. It’s Minhyuk. Minhyuk takes his hand and drags him away to the side. Dongmin can feel eyes on them, but he ignores them. 

“The free throw. You’ll take it, right?” Minhyuk says and stares into Dongmin’s eyes seriously. 

“Why not you?” Dongmin asks, confused over why Minhyuk is letting Dongmin have the chance to be the star who can get them the win thanks to Hyun-Tae’s awesome rebound that cost him his foot. 

“Coach won’t let me do it. I missed the three-pointer, remember? And Hyun-Tae got hurt because of me missing-” 

“What? How can you blame that on yourself? Hyun-Tae had bad luck for landing on his foot like that, and his defender pushed him, it wasn’t your fault. No one is perfect, Minhyuk. Sometimes we miss, and that’s it. Besides, just because you missed the three-pointer, it doesn’t mean you’ll miss a free throw,” Dongmin says and puts his hand on Minhyuk’s shoulder. 

“I want you to do it, Dongmin,” Minhyuk says with a small sigh and wipes off some sweat from his forehead, pushing away his damp bangs. 

“Why?” Dongmin asks softly, moving closer without thinking about what he’s doing or saying, just letting his heart take over. 

Minhyuk smiles and puts his hand on Dongmin’s chest where his heart is beating faster and faster because of Minhyuk’s warm touch and warm smile. 

“I believe in you. I know you can do it,” Minhyuk says genuinely.

Minhyuk’s words move something inside of Dongmin. They make him feel loved and trusted. They make him happy. He almost pulls Minhyuk into a hug because of how much he appreciates him right now, but Dongmin doesn’t get a chance to thank him or show how much what Minhyuk said means to him because their coach calls him over and tells him to take the free throw instead of Hyun-Tae who can’t do it because of his injury that luckily doesn’t seem to be too bad.

Dongmin can see the slight hesitation in their coach’s eyes as he looks back at Minhyuk, who is standing close to Dongmin, making sure Dongmin can feel his presence and the support he brings with it. 

With shaky legs, Dongmin walks back out on the court to the free-throw line. He glances over his shoulder and sees Minhyuk nodding with a small smile on his lips. 

Dongmin takes a deep breath as he stops behind the line. The other team is spread out over the court, nervously waiting for the most tension-filled moment of the whole game. 

The referee passes the ball, and Dongmin gets ready. He does his usual free throw routine and tries to shut out all thoughts. Dongmin tries not to think about possibly disappointing Minhyuk, who so wholeheartedly told him he believes in him. Dongmin tries not to think about how their coach will wish he chose Minhyuk to take the free throw instead of Dongmin if he misses. 

Calm down, Dongmin. All you need to do is score, that’s it, Dongmin tells himself in his head.

Finally, Dongmin releases the ball and watches as it spins through the air towards the basket. For a moment, it’s almost like time has slowed down before the ball cleanly falls through the net and the net only, making that satisfying sound Dongmin loves so much. 

The next second all he knows is that Minhyuk is hugging him and he doesn't hesitate to hug him back tightly, hidden feelings flowing over him while he drowns in Minhyuk's heat and scent. Dongmin chuckles and clings onto Minhyuk who giggles cutely in his ear before burying his face in Dongmin's shoulder, avoiding Dongmin's sweaty neck.

"Am I tripping or are those two hugging?" 

Dongmin freezes and looks up. His whole team is standing around them, staring at them with gaping mouths and shocked faces. 

Dongmin blushes and tries to pull away, but Minhyuk hugs him tighter and says with a voice loud enough for everyone to hear despite being muffled by Dongmin's jersey,

"Obviously we're hugging so shut up."

Some of the guys laugh while others finally close their mouths and relax.

Eventually, Minhyuk lets him go, his face beet red, and they all group hug and cheer happily over getting this sweet victory after a tough and close game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song they slow danced to is Beyoncé's Halo. I thought the lyrics kinda fit so that's why I chose that song. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the last chapter, the ending! It's longer than the first two parts but hopefully, the events here will keep you hooked until the end :)) And if it happens to be messy and bad or out of character, I'm so sorry. Honestly, I struggled towards the end a lot so it might be rushed or just badly written, I don't know...

"So are you two friends now, or was that hug just something that happened in the heat of the moment?" Moonbin asks Minhyuk later in the locker room.

"We're… friends," Minhyuk carefully says, glancing at Dongmin to see if he's okay with that which Dongmin is. He smiles and nods towards Minhyuk, who smiles back shyly. 

Dongmin likes to think that they're friends, but a part of him isn't satisfied with being friends. A part of him wants to be… more. But then Dongmin has to ask himself if he's ready for that. Maybe being friends is a good start even though Dongmin can feel that there's something more between them, something stronger.

"Wow, when did that happen? You haven't told us," Moonbin says and gestures to himself and Sanha.

"Uh, recently…" Minhyuk mumbles.

He then starts to strip off his sweaty basketball clothes, sending the signal that he's done with the conversation and will go shower now.

Dongmin looks away, trying to distract himself with something, anything. Dongmin doesn’t want to imagine Minhyuk and his naked figure in the shower, but he really can’t help it. Dongmin can’t see the shower room from here when a row of lockers are in the way, but just the sound of the running water is distracting, making him imagine it.

Moonbin and Sanha are also about to go shower, and Dongmin considers taking the bus home despite having to deal with the uncomfortable feeling of his sweaty and sticky skin. Sanha turns around and looks at Dongmin. He asks, "Are you not going to shower, Dongmin?"

"Uhm, I will... shower…" he mumbles and starts undressing reluctantly.

Dongmin's hands are shaking as they're holding up the towel around his waist that he doesn't want to drop when he enters the shower room with the many rows of open showers.

It's embarrassing how affected he is over something this silly. It's not like it's the first time he's showering around guys, and it's not like Minhyuk will even bother to look at him when they have seen each other naked before. 

Dongmin nervously exhales and glances towards Minhyuk, who is facing the wall as the water flows down his muscular back. 

Sanha and Moonbin are… fighting each other with an empty shampoo bottle that's flying between them and hitting their skin hard, leaving red marks on them. They just laugh and shout out of pure joy. 

Since they're the only ones still here, Dongmin is surprised Sanha and Moonbin aren't up to something more intense as the chaotic duo they are. Oh well, Dongmin doesn't care about what those two do as long as they don't drag him into it.

Dongmin closes his eyes and relaxes under the hot water. Showering after basketball games have always been the best reward for Dongmin's aching and tired body. His mind and soul just shut everything out and goes blank. Even Minhyuk isn’t on his mind when he cleans himself up and finally exits the shower as the last person.

When Dongmin rounds the corner of lockers and is about to walk to his own, he spots Minhyuk putting on his sweatpants. Dongmin thought everyone had already left so when he suddenly sees Minhyuk to his side he gets so scared that he jumps and slips.

He falls towards Minhyk who drops his sweatpants and reaches out to catch Dongmin which he luckily does.

It’s quite a sight. Dongmin in only a towel around his waist is leaning onto Minhyuk, who has his arm around Dongmin’s back. Minhyu pulled him so close their bare chests got pressed together. Minhyuk’s other hand has got a firm grip around Dongmin’s bicep. The sweatpants Minhyuk was putting on is laying on the floor in a mess around his feet, forgotten.

Dongmin stares at Minhyuk, who is staring back at him with a blush on his face and ears. Neither one of them makes a move to get out of the awkward position, and Dongmin doesn’t plan on being the first one either because he’s now sure that he doesn’t just like their bodies close but loves the feeling of the heat that passes from Minhyuk’s body to his. He even loves the way his fingers are trembling because of desperately wanting to dig into Minhyuk's skin and pull him closer. 

Dongmin can almost feel Minhyuk’s heart beating against his chest. Nervously, Dongmin swallows hard when it occurs to him that Minhyuk might be able to feel his heart and how fast it’s beating too.

Minhyuk smiles at him shyly and attempts to move away, but Dongmin keeps him in place by setting his hands on Minhyuk’s shoulders. 

Minhyuk's eyes widen before he quickly squeezes them shut as if he's afraid of what Dongmin will do, but Dongmin doesn't plan on doing anything even if a part of him is dying to perhaps have a taste of Minhyuk, to lean down and softly press his lips against every millimeter of Minhyuk's tanned skin.

When Minhyuk finally opens his eyes and stares back with cheeks changing color from red to dark red, Dongmin whispers, “Thank you for catching me when I fell for you, Minhyuk."

Minhyuk stares at Dongmin without even blinking. Dongmin finds it a little weird to stare at Minhyuk's expressionless face when he often carries that shy smile together with his colorful blush. 

Dongmin is not sure what Minhyuk's reaction means. Is he perhaps disappointed? Was he expecting something else?

“You promised you’ll catch me if I fall for you. I’m happy to do the same,” he says, now genuinely smiling. 

Dongmin feels himself soften and melt like a candle on fire all because of that beautiful smile. Fighting and struggling with his own heart and wild feelings, Dongmin lets Minhyuk step away from him this time.

* * *

“Are you taking the bus home?” Minhyuk asks. 

“Yeah, and you?”

“Me too, but I want to take you out for a celebration meal before going home, if you want to,” Minhyuk says, or more like rambles out in a mess of words. He bites his lower lip and fumbles with the hem of his shirt with shaking fingers. 

“Oh, a blind date?” Dongmin says, stunned.

Minhyuk laughs and Dongmin blushes, embarrassed over how dumb he is. 

“We can say that, but it’ll be a blind date without the blind,” Minhyuk says and takes Dongmin’s hand as they start walking down the streets. 

With their large basketball backpacks on their backs, their loose sitting and comfortable clothes, and their wet hair drying off in the air of this new year's pretty warm winter, Dongmin and Minhyuk look exactly like two basketball players walking out from a game.

Eyes get drawn to them from all directions, and people are either staring at Dongmin's handsome face or their intertwined fingers. Some people even spares Minhyuk a glance. 

The last time people stared at Minhyuk together with Dongmin, he had felt uneasy and uncomfortable, but now, he doesn't care. Just like the strangers on the street, Minhyuk has gotten caught up in staring at Dongmin.

Dongmin is truly ethereal. Minhyuk doesn't believe there's anyone else in the world as handsome and perfect as Dongmin. No, it's not possible. Only one Lee Dongmin exists, and Minhyuk has the luck to be holding his hand and walk next to him as a friend after being the only person Lee Dongmin has ever hated and envied.

“I didn’t say if I wanted to go,” Dongmin says teasingly.

It's like Dongmin only has eyes for Minhyuk because he isn't the slightest aware of the staring eyes, just like Minhyuk. He isn't even hearing the too loud, disgusted whispers about their hands and close bodies that would have made him uncomfortable and alarmed. 

All of his focus is on Minhyuk, so if Dongmin walks into a pole he won't be the slightest surprised, he won't even mind.

“If you don’t want to, you’re coming with me anyway. I’ll kidnap you, Lee Dongmin,” Minhyuk says just as playfully with a big smile on his face.

Dongmin laughs and pulls Minhyuk’s hand, making Minhyuk bump into his side and stare up at him with big round eyes as they stop walking.

“Are you that desperate?” Dongmin questions, looking down at a shy Minhyuk, pressed up against his side, their faces close. 

Minhyuk opens his mouth to answer, but Dongmin doesn’t let him. He says, “It’s okay. I’m kinda desperate too, so I’ll let you kidnap me.” 

In an instant, Minhyuk turns into the most adorable blushing mess ever.

* * *

“Remember how I said the only thing we have in common is our passion for basketball and guys?” Minhyuk suddenly says, looking up from his emptied bowls that were filled with traditional Korean foods about half an hour ago.

Dongmin tilts his head to the side, curious about what Minhyuk wants to say. Maybe he has found out they have something more in common. Dongmin is excited to know what that may be. 

“Yes, I remember.”

“Well, I lied about that,” Minhyuk says, scratching the crown of his head. 

Dongmin raises his eyebrows. That was the last thing he expected to hear from Minhyuk, who swallows thickly and leans forward, nervously glancing at everything that isn't Dongmin. 

“I wanted us to have something more than just our passion for basketball in common, that’s why I said I also have a passion for guys which I used to have before I met you.”

Dongmin’s mind turns into a tornado of questions. Why did Minhyuk want them to have more things in common? It’s not like having two things in common makes a big difference from one thing. It wasn’t necessary to lie, but Minhyuk still did, and now he’s admitting that. Why? 

Dongmin feels even more confused thinking about Minhyuk’s next words. Is Minhyuk trying to tell him he became straight after meeting him? Is Dongmin that horrible? Is he such an annoying, mean, and self-centered person that he got a guy to change his sexuality? Dongmin always thought that he could make guys gay with his looks, not straight when they already are gay. Of course, everything isn’t about appearance, and this might just prove that. If you have a shitty personality you won’t be loved, and Dongmin, he must have a shitty personality. 

Dongmin used to tell himself that he is too busy to date. He also told himself he wasn't going to find a decent male who will love him the way his cousin said a man would love him. To the moon and back, that way. He told himself it's better to forget about love for now when, in reality, no one will love him because of his bad personality. No one will ever love him if he continues like this. Minhyuk? He can forget about him. Dongmin is stupid for getting his hopes up and thinking they can be together. He was mean to him. He hated him. He pushed him down and made him look bad any chance he had. Dongmin is so, so stupid for thinking Minhyuk might like him, so, so stupid... 

Him realizing all these things now because of a simple confession from Minhyuk makes his heart suffer in pain. Not even his parents love him, so how did he expect the person he hated and hurt would? 

Dongmin holds in a sob and blinks away tears that gather in his eyes. He forces himself to wait for Minhyuk who doesn't have a clue about the inner breakdown Dongmin is going through to continue.

“What I’m trying to say is… You, Dongmin. You’re my passion, not guys. I can't look at other guys, and I can’t think about anyone else but you. You have been my passion since I first met you, and even when things were shitty between us, you were my passion, and that made me realize you’d always be no matter how much you hated me. Basketball and you, that's my one and two passions.”

Minhyuk reaches over the small round table and takes Dongmin’s hand, but Dongmin is barely aware of the soft and warm hand over his. His mind is too busy trying to understand everything. 

Did he hear that correctly? Did Minhyuk just say that? Did Minhyuk say he is his passion? Even when they were rivals? Does this mean Minhyuk… likes him?

“I’m sorry for everything. I never meant for my rude comments to be hurtful, but I guess I got pretty angry and... and sad... I didn’t want to be mean. I didn’t want to mock you, but…“ Minhyuk looks down and sighs. “What happened happened. We can’t change the past, but we can change the future. And Dongmin, I don’t want a future where we’re competing against each other and hating each other. I want a future where we’re competing together and… loving each other... I'm sure of my feelings, and I'll hold onto them for as long as possible.”

Before Dongmin even is aware of it, tears are running down his cheeks. They're happy tears and not broken and sad ones like they could have been moments ago.

“Dongmin, don’t cry!” Minhyuk says and is just about to lean over the table to wipe Dongmin’s tears off when Dongmin's phone on the table starts vibrating angrily. 

Dongmin jumps and snatches his hand to himself. Minhyuk also looks startled and a little hurt over the way Dongmin pulled his hand away, but Dongmin doesn’t notice because he too focused on his phone. It’s his father calling him.

Dongmin wipes off the tears and sniffles. He takes a deep breath and clears his throat.

“Sorry, I have to take this,” Dongmin mumbles to Minhyuk before answering the call. 

“Yes, dad.”

“Where are you?” His father’s voice sounds strict and angry. Usually, Dongmin is careful and calm when talking to his father when he sounds like this. Right now, though, Dongmin just wants the call to end so he can turn back to Minhyuk and tell him that he likes him, is sorry and regretful for how he acted and also wants that bright and happy future Minhyuk is picturing for them together. 

“I heard you had a game today. Did you?” He continues before Dongmin can answer, leaving Dongmin speechless over what he hears.

“What? Of course, I had a game today! I told you so don't interrogate me when you're the one who forgot-” 

“Don’t you dare talk like that to your father! If you had a game at seven in the morning, why are you still not home?” Dongmin’s dad is practically shouting, forcing Dongmin to put the phone away from his ear for a moment. 

Dongmin bites back the urge to correct his dad about the time they had the game. There's no point in making him angrier than he already is, so Dongmin takes a deep breath to calm himself. 

He glances towards Minhyuk, who surely heard everything. Dongmin sighs and brings the phone back to his ear. He considers getting up and talking outside like he should have done the moment he answered the call. Dongmin doesn't like that Minhyuk might feel awkward when his dad is scolding him, but Minhyuk once again takes his hand over the table and holds it tightly, comforting him and reminding Dongmin that he’s there for him. Dongmin smiles faintly and Minhyuk smiles back.

“I’m sorry. I’m out with a friend-”

“Then come back home! I don't understand how many times I have to tell you not to waste time you can spend on studying. We agreed and said basketball is another thing, but eating out with friends is a waste of time, especially when your most important exams are upcoming.” 

Dongmin’s father hangs up the call, just like that. Dongmin lets out a heavy sigh that makes him feel worse, but he doesn’t hesitate when he gets up and gathers his things that only includes his backpack.

He’ll have to get ready for the same old scolding he manages to get over the smallest things. Either his parents don’t care about him at all, or they suddenly care about everything he does, but Dongmin can barely do anything that normal teenagers do. He can’t sit down with friends because that’s a waste of time that he should spend on studying. He can’t stay after basketball practices for too long because he needs to get home to study after showering and eating. He can’t play video games or read books of fiction. He can’t spend more than fifteen minutes on his piano because he needs to again, study.

“I have to leave,” Dongmin says to Minhyuk, who is also standing up, looking more worried than disappointed, but it's still there, the wish of having at least another five minutes with Dongmin. 

“Will I hear from you when you get home? I mean, just so I can know you made it home safely,” Minhyuk says, blushing a little and scratching the top of his head. It seems like a habit. Dongmin loves how he keeps discovering new things about Minhyuk the more time he spends with him.

Dongmin smiles and extends his phone to Minhyuk, who just stares at it, dumbfounded in the cutest way ever. 

"I'll call you when I get home... If you’ll give me your number,” Dongmin says.

Minhyuk quickly takes Dongmin's phone, startling him a little at the sudden move. It's as if Minhyuk is scared Dongmin will change his mind if he doesn't quickly put his number in Dongmin’s contact list. 

Dongmin's heart swells, and he wants to do nothing else but coo and gush over how cute Minhyuk is.

Dongmin chuckles when he gets his phone back and sees that Minhyuk has saved his number under the name, Park Minhyuk.

“What’s funny?” Minhyuk asks nervously. 

“Park Minhyuk. That's cute, but I’ll change your name to Minhyukie when I get home,” Dongmin says and walks around the table. He leans down and presses a soft kiss on Minhyuk’s cheek that he hopes can replace all the words he wants Minhyuk to hear but doesn't have time to say now. 

For the first time in his life, Dongmin kisses a guy his age on the cheek. For the first time in his life, he doesn't care about hiding his sexuality and openly shows affection to a guy in public. And he’s not scared or worried about what people think about them. Maybe no one’s even paying attention to them. Either way, Dongmin doesn’t care at all because he’s happy. Happier than he has ever been. Even the butterflies in his stomach that should make him feel nervous only makes him feel happy. 

He can explode out of happiness, that's how Dongmin feels when he looks down at Minhyuk and sees his hand fly up to his red cheek. Minhyuk looks at Dongmin with wide, shocked eyes. He’s redder than Dongmin has ever seen him and his eyes look like they might pop out of his skull if he keeps staring at Dongmin like that.

“You’ll answer my call later, right?” Dongmin says and gently caresses Minhyuk’s cheek, his other cheek because Minhyuk still has his hand over the spot Dongmin kissed.

“Right,” Minhyuk says, sounding breathless as if the chaste cheek kiss knocked the air out of him.

* * *

When Dongmin enters their luxury house in a part of the neighborhood Gangnam, Jangmi takes his backpack and tells him that his father is waiting for him in his office. 

Dongmin hurries up the white marble stairs to the second floor and makes his way through the hall of rooms until he’s standing in front of his father’s work office. He takes a deep breath and knocks. 

Dongmin enters when he’s told to, and he only sits down when he’s told to. His father is staring at him coldly, obviously not happy about Dongmin eating out with a friend. 

“I’m sorry,” Dongmin mumbles on autopilot before his father even says anything. 

“Was it with Hyun-Tae again?”

Dongmin almost snorts out loud. His father says it as if he’s eating out with Hyun-Tae every day. They barely do that once a month. The only way Dongmin even got to go out for his blind date two days ago was thanks to his cousin covering up for him. And Dongmin will forever be thankful for his cousin convincing him to go on that date that ended the rivalry between him and Minhyuk. 

“No, it wasn’t,” Dongmin answers honestly. 

His father raises his eyebrows and takes his glasses off. He leans forward, resting his hands on the glass desk. 

“Then who was it?" his father asks.

Dongmin’s heart skips a beat. His father is watching him with an intense gaze, one that makes Dongmin feel like his father can see through him. 

“Minhyuk, Park Minhyuk. W-we play, uh, he plays in the team. The b-basketball team,” Dongmin nervously says, stumbling over his words as a blush takes over his face. 

“Are you lying to me?” Dongmin’s father says with a threatening tone in his voice.

“No, no, of course not!” Dongmin hurries to say.

He feels how his heart speeds up and how sweat starts to break out in the back of his neck. He’s too obvious. His father will understand. It’s over. It’s over for Dongmin-

“Was it a girl?” 

“What?” 

“Were you with a girl when I called? Answer honestly!” Dongmin’s dad raises his voice and slams his hand down on the desk, startling Dongmin who almost jumps off his seat at the sudden outbreak.

“No, I swear! I was with Minhyuk. He moved here from Jinju and started playing in our team. He’s not in my class, just on the team. We were never on good terms, but today we went out for a meal, that’s it! I wouldn’t have stayed for long, dad; I wouldn’t have. I swear I’m telling the truth-” Dongmin desperately explains but gets cut off.

“Enough!” 

An awkward silence fills the room for a few seconds until his dad is speaking again. 

"I better not hear you hang out with him again or-”

Dongmin’s eyes widen. “Dad!”

“This is not up for discussion, Dongmin! Now, leave,” his father says and gestures towards the door, sounding tired and defeated as he massages his temples. 

Dongmin hesitates but stands up, bows, and hurries out of the large room filled with bookshelves of protocols and documents together with the glass desk and two chairs in front of it. His father’s workroom is lifeless and boring, just like himself. 

Dongmin runs to his room and locks himself in his bathroom where no one should hear him talking to Minhyuk.

Dongmin's heart races away to space. His hands are shaking when he pulls out his phone and calls him. 

"Hello."

"H-hi Minhyuk, it's me, Dongmin… I… I made it home safely and… I just called to let you know," Dongmin says with a shaky voice. 

"That's a relief… Is everything alright? Are you… okay?" Minhyuk sounds unsure and just as shaky and nervous as Dongmin feels. 

"Everything's fine. Uhm… Thank you for earlier, it was lovely," Dongmin says and scratches the back of his ear while glancing at his reflection in the mirror. His cheeks are pink, and his hair is messy and a little frizzy looking, probably because it dried on its own and not with his usual hairdryer. Besides that, he looks the same, the usual handsome young adult who girls fall in love with at first sight. 

"I'm happy you came along. It was nice. I hope we can do it again sometime," Minhyuk says. 

Dongmin is not sure why they’re speaking so politely. It’s making him more nervous than he already is. 

"Minhyuk?" 

"Yes?" 

"Are you perhaps… uncomfortable? Talking to me?" Dongmin asks, biting his lip.

There’s a long pause on the other end. For a second, Dongmin wonders if Minhyuk hung up the call. 

“Minhyuk?”

“Yes?” The response comes in an instant. Dongmin lets out a quiet sigh, and he feels himself relaxing. 

He sits down on the cold shining white tile floor in the middle of his bathroom, something that he has never done before. A few days ago, he would’ve felt disgusted to sit down on his bathroom floor. Not that Dongmin is a messy or dirty person, he’s just… sensitive. But right now, he feels exhausted to a point where he doesn’t care, and to be honest, Minhyuk’s soothing dark and melodic voice over the phone makes his legs too weak to hold him upright. 

“What makes you think I’m uncomfortable, Dongmin?”

“I- I’m not sure. I just want to know if I’m the only one who feels delighted,” Dongmin mumbles.

“Delighted?” Minhyuk asks, sounding surprised. 

Dongmin laughs, light-hearted. Minhyuk is acting cute again, and Dongmin loves it. He feels like he can never get enough of cute Minhyuk. Hot Minhyuk too even though Dongmin hasn't encountered much of that side of Minhyuk... yet.

“Yes. Now, won’t you tell me how you feel, talking to me?” 

Another pause but this time shorter. 

“I feel… blissed out. I also feel like this is unreal. I mean, I’m talking to Lee Dongmin over the phone. That sounds like a dream to me. It pretty much feels like a dream too,” Minhyuk answers with a small chuckle. 

Dongmin smiles but a sadness fill his chest. Minhyuk must have imagined them like this before Dongmin started acting cold and mean to make it clear that he didn't want any sort of friendship between them. Dongmin ruined everything before it even could start. 

“I want to see you,” Dongmin whispers, and his voice breaks. He’s not sure why but tears gather up in his eyes, and he feels an emptiness replace the sadness in his chest. 

He’s longing for Minhyuk. He is longing to see him and his beautiful smile, his dimples and his blush, his shining and sparkling eyes. Dongmin is longing for Minhyuk’s gentle touch that manages to comfort him in a way he’s never been comforted before. It’s like Minhyuk’s presence is a magic spell that keeps healing him even when there might not be any wounds inside of him. 

Dongmin can hear how Minhyuk exhales nervously, his breath hitching. 

“Me too. I miss you, already,” Minhyuk whispers back.

"I think it’s been too long since we saw each other. I miss you too,” Dongmin says, smiling since all he can feel is happiness filling the void inside of him thanks to Minhyuk’s words. 

“It’s been forty-three minutes since we last saw each other,” Minhyuk chuckles. 

Dongmin laughs. 

“Exactly forty-three minutes? You watched the time?” 

“Since the moment you walked out of the restaurant I haven’t been able to keep my eyes off the time,” Minhyuk says sweetly, his voice sounding softer than usual.

“Why?” Dongmin asks, his voice also softening while his heart swells with love

“Isn’t it obvious? I was waiting for your call.” 

“Ah, you mean you were waiting to see how long it would take me to call?” Dongmin says jokingly, making Minhyuk whine cutely on the other end of the line. Dongmin wonders if he’s also pouting, but there’s no way he can find out. He can’t see Minhyuk. 

“I wish we could meet,” Dongmin says. 

He knows they can’t meet when his father doesn’t want him to hang out with friends. His father will rage if he finds out Dongmin is with Minhyuk again. Not that Dongmin can leave the house after just coming back. So in conclusion, there is no way they can meet now, but Dongmin feels like he needs to see Minhyuk. He feels like he's… desperate to see him.

“We can. I’ll come to you; I’ll go anywhere you want me to. Just tell me where, and I'll come... no matter what,” Minhyuk says, and Dongmin blushes hard, all alone on his bathroom floor. He's just as flustered as he would have been if Minhyuk had said that to his face. 

"Ah, you… Is that your way of flirting?" Dongmin asks shyly. 

Minhyuk laughs and says, "I was just honest." 

Before Dongmin can respond, someone knocks on his door. Dongmin jolts and jumps up on his feet. He curses under his breath.

"I have to go. Minhyuk. I'll try to find a chance to call you, but I don't promise anything so don't watch the time again," Dongmin says and pulls the phone away from his ear to end the call, but before hearing Minhyuk's last words, he can't bring himself to do it. 

"It's okay, I can wait all night for your call… Dongmin, I- I like you, just know that." 

Dongmin's heart skips a beat so violently that he loses his breath for a moment and millions of butterflies he never knew could be possible to feel all at once are freaking out in his stomach. Then, his heart starts beating so fast and loud that he can't focus on anything else but the sound of the lively beating and the feeling in his chest, in his heart. It's a feeling that he's not sure how to describe. No one who has nervously uttered those words to him has ever made him react like this. No one has ever made him feel such powerful things.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Minhyukie," Dongmin whispers with a weak voice that almost drowns in the sound of his loud heartbeat. 

He walks out of the bathroom and ends the call. Then he hurries to let the person outside come inside. The person ends up being his mother. 

"Since when are you locking the door? What were you doing, Dongmin?" She asks with her arms crossed and perfectly fixed eyebrows furrowed. 

Dongmin swallows thickly. 

"I must've accidentally locked it," he mutters, looking down on his feet. The lie sucks, and it tastes bitter on his tongue. 

His mother snorts but doesn't say anything. She puts a hand on his shoulder and leads him to his desk, where all sorts of school books and notebooks lay sprawled over his laptop. Lost are pens and rubbers in the messy sea of school materials. 

"You always make sure to get your basketball equipment in order, but you never sort your books after studying. Look at this mess," his mother sighs and starts to organize the books, but Dongmin gently grabs her wrist to stop her. 

"I'm sorry, mom. I'll make sure to do better," he says and sorts the books on his own under his mother's sharp gaze. 

Dongmin must be very unlucky to have to deal with both of his parents being in a bad mood on the same day. But to be fair, his mother has never liked to see a mess anywhere in the house. She wants everything to be clean and neat.

"I heard something about you today. Something… unpleasing," she suddenly says.

Dongmin freezes as his shoulders and back muscles are tensing up. His blood runs cold, and his throat is suddenly parched. 

"My secretary saw you near school after your game, walking hand in hand and side by side with a boy. You two were very close, drawing many people's attention. And to quote her words, a horrible assumption can't help but get made. Here’s exactly what she said, “I stopped for a second to make sure I hadn't seen wrong, but no, indeed it was your son. I saw him stop and pull the boy by his hand, and then their sides were pressed together, showing a rather inappropriate position as their faces were close. Neither of them seemed to mind as they were looking into each other's eyes in a way that is too shameful for me even to try describing.”

Dongmin feels like his heart has stopped beating. A buzzing sound fills his ears, and his head is spinning. He feels dizzy yet stunned. He can’t move. He can barely feel his own body. It’s like he’s numb. 

“Tell me it wasn’t you. Tell me you weren’t with that boy. Tell me anything, and I’ll believe you just… don’t say it’s true. Don’t say you’re like that. Not my son, he can’t be.”

Dongmin closes his eyes. He wants to do what she says. He wants to tell her it wasn’t him or that her secretary must have mistaken their closeness. He wants to, but he can’t find his voice. He can’t find the courage to lie to his mother’s face when she knows it’ll be a lie. He can’t do that when she is asking him to lie. 

Her mother gasps and grabs Dongmin’s shoulders, forcing him to face her. 

“Say something!” she cries out desperately. 

The disbelief in her eyes, the disgust, and the way she’s watching him as if he’s a stranger and not her son don’t just hurt Dongmin like a stab to the heart, but it makes him furious.

Dongming used to seek love and appreciation from his parents. Eventually, he understood that they would only order him around and yet never get satisfied with what he managed to achieve. Still, he never wanted to disappoint them or make them angry. He never said anything except bow his head and mumble apologies when they scolded him, but now Dongmin can feel himself changing. 

“It was me! That boy owns all of my heart, and he's the only person I’ve ever liked-” 

The slap burns his left cheek where her hand hit him hard. 

Dongmin is in shock. Shock from his mother hitting him, the pain shooting directly to his heart instead of staying on his cheek. Shock from how he admitted his feelings out loud to his mother before telling Minhyuk or even... himself.

"You need to force this crazy belief of feeling romantic emotions for a boy out of your head! If your father finds out-”

"Crazy belief? It's a part of who I am! I like boys, mom! I've never felt anything for girls, and I never will. Nothing can change that. Not you nor my father!” Dongmin shouts at her and suddenly feels a wave of nausea washing over him. 

“No, Dongmin! This is not who you are. That boy must have somehow tricked you into believing-” 

Dongmin runs to the bathroom, throwing up all of the food he ate with Minhyuk earlier. 

He feels terrible. He keeps vomiting, yet he feels like he needs to throw up more. His hands are shaking, and his vision is blurry. He doesn't know if it's because of sweat running down in his eyes or because of tears.

Dongmin’s mind is a haze of confusion. He’s not aware of his surroundings, but he can hear voices through the fog in his head. A woman and a man are talking outside the bathroom. That must be his mother, and the man must be… his father. Where did he come from? What are they talking about? Is she telling him that their son is gay? No, she can't be...

Dongmin almost feels like he’s underwater. It’s weird. He has never felt like this when throwing up.

All of a sudden Jangmi is there, helping him clean up and she gently tucks him down in bed. His dizzy head stops spinning, and Dongmin instead starts shivering, realizing he's freezing. 

Dongmin tries to wrap the bed cover around himself, but Jangmi doesn’t let him, mumbling something about him having a fever.

“You’re so mean, “Dongmin whines out pathetically, sounding like a child. 

Jangmi smiles and strokes his head. Dongmin wants to smile back but can't move a single muscle. He's happy his mother is gone. He's happy Jangmi is here and looking after him when he's sick like she always does. Wait, is he sick? He can’t be. He needs to go to school tomorrow to see Minhyuk. 

Dongmin groans and tries to get up but he’s too weak to fight off the hands that hold him in place. Then, he feels a cold and wet rug on his forehead, cooling him down and making his tense body relax. 

He stays like that in bed without any sense of time or presence. A bad headache is making him feel like his head will explode while he’s shivering and whimpering in pain. At some point, he believes Jangmi forced him to take medicine, but he’s not sure. He has no idea what’s happening. All he knows is that he can’t be sick. He told Minhyuk he’ll see him tomorrow. He can’t stay at home. He needs to go to school...

* * *

Minhyuk takes a much earlier bus than usual to school. He has decided to meet Dongmin right outside the school gates. That's why he has to be early. He can't miss Dongmin walking inside.

With a silly smile, he leans against a tree right by the gates and waits, and waits, and waits. The longer he waits, the more nervous and thrilled he feels until it starts to get too late. Dongmin doesn't show up. People come and go by. The guys from his team one by one greets him, but there's no sight of Dongmin.

Dongmin doesn't even come when there are three minutes left until the first lessons of the day, but he's never late, not what Minhyuk knows.

Minhyuk bits his lower lip and looks down at his phone, still debating on whether he should call Dongmin or not. What if something terrible has happened to him? Or what if he has thought everything over and doesn't want to see Minhyuk? What if he hates him again?

"Hyuk!" 

Minhyuk turns towards the voice calling him from behind. He knows it's not Dongmin's voice and that he has never called him by that nickname, but he still feels an ounce of hope that dies down the moment he sees Sanha running up to him. 

"Hurry, we're gonna be late!" He says breathlessly and drags Minhyuk away from the gates with him. They run inside and make it just before the teacher shows up. 

* * *

Finally, it's lunch break. Dongmin was the only thing on his mind throughout all of Minhyuk's lessons so far. He quickly gets up and almost runs to the school canteen with his two confused best friends right behind him. 

Minhyuk sighs when he sees the long queue and stands in line. He tries to cheer himself up. Once he gets inside, he should see Hyun-Tae and the other guys. Then he can know where Dongmin is. Unless he texts him now...

Minhyuk brings out his phone from his pocket. Fuck it. He unlocks it and starts texting Dongmin, asking if he’s at school, even though Minhyuk knows Dongmin isn’t, and how he’s doing, but just before sending it, he changes his mind and puts his phone away. 

The queue doesn’t last for long. His eyes find Hyun-Tae in the crowded canteen quickly. The white walls and ceiling, together with the large windows, always set a pretty nice and relaxing atmosphere despite the high volume created by the many students that pretty much eat at the same hour every day. It's light and clean, the floor shining and reflecting the light from outside. It's not too lifeless thanks to the colorful long tables and black steeled seats through the open space row after row. 

Minhyuk takes a deep breath and walks towards their table with Sanha and Moonbin by his side.

“Hey, mind if we sit?” Moonbin says with a cheerful tone before Minhyuk can speak.

Their teammates smile and scoot over to make space. Minhyuk sits down opposite of Hyun-Tae in the far end of the now full table. 

“How are you holding up?” Minhyuk asks him, trying not to stare at the thick bandage around his foot and the crutches on the floor next to him under the long green table. 

Hyun-Tae smiles and says,

“Well, obviously I’m not at my best, but at least nothing’s broken, just sprained.” 

Minhyuk nods. 

“That’s a relief,” he mumbles and forces himself to eat. He needs to calm down before he can ask where Dongmin is without drawing anyone’s attention. Even though he saw that Dongmin wasn’t here when he came inside, Minhyuk still can’t help himself when he glances at the guys at the table. As expected, there’s no sight of Dongmin’s tall figure and handsome face.

Minhyuk nervously swallows down the food and drinks some water with it. He can’t hold himself back any longer. 

“Have you heard anything about Dongmin? He’s not here today, is he?” Minhyuk asks Hyun-Tae. And it’s typical. He asked right when everyone stopped talking. Now he has everyone’s attention. Curious and surprised eyes are watching him closely, making Minhyuk blush and nervously gulp down more water to cool his heating skin down. 

“I heard he’s sick. He’s probably resting at home, don’t worry,” Hyun-Tae answers with a warm and reassuring smile. 

“Oh,” Minhyuk mumbles, the disappointment obvious on his gloomy face as his shoulders get weighed down by an invisible heaviness. 

"Aww, were you looking forward to seeing Dongmin today?" Sanha says next to him with his annoying nasal voice, the one he sometimes has when he teases Minhyuk and Moonbin.

"Maybe to get another hug?" Moonbin continues, just as teasingly but with a normal voice and with some actual curiosity behind it, unlike Sanha. 

"Shut it, will you?" Minhyuk snaps at them, cheeks burning as his teammates either look surprised or confused. 

"It's okay, Minhyuk. That's not something to be ashamed of," Moonbin says with a wide smile, one that Minhyuk wants to rub off his face roughly. 

"Right. It's cute how much you like skinship,” Sanha says with a giggle and puts his arms around Minhyuk, giving him a side hug. Minhyuk whines and pushes him away gently because Sanha’s cuteness doesn’t let him use any type of force against him, no matter how much of a brat is. Moonbin, on the other hand, has hitting and abusing Sanha as a hobby. Playfully, of course, but sometimes Minhyuk thinks that Moonbin goes a little bit too hard. It’s probably because he’s so strong he doesn’t know what damage he can cause by a simple punch to the arm. 

“Shouldn’t you like, be happy Dongmin isn’t here?” Joon-Su asks Minhyuk. He's the shortest guy in their team with a pimple-covered face that the guys never stop teasing him for. 

“No, no! Dongmin and Minhyuk are friends now,” Moonbin says eagerly with a mouth full of rice, not giving Minhyuk a chance to answer. 

Everyone except Sanha, Moonbin, and Hyun-Tae gasp. Some even stay with gaping mouths while staring at Minhyuk as if he’s an alien. Minhyuk wants the ground to swallow him, but since that can't happen, he tries to keep an expressionless face or a so-called poker face. Unfortunately, he has never been good at those things, so he just sits there, blushing while trying to force down the small smile on his lips. 

“They became friends recently,” Moonbin explains and points at Minhyuk with his chopsticks before once again stuffing in as much rice as his big mouth can take. 

“Wow, I never thought those two could become friends.” 

The basketball players all nod in agreement and starts to talk about episodes where they thought one of the two rivals would kill the other and how amazing it is that they’re now friends. They all laugh and then start talking about another story. They cringe and then burst out laughing at how stupid Minhyuk and Dongmin were, hating each other over basically nothing and always blurting out comments that they hoped could make the other embarrassed or hurt. 

Minhyuk laughs along. After all, it’s all in the past, and they’re friends now. Maybe even more than friends. It was only yesterday he confessed to Dongmin, who seemed… happy. Minhyuk believes that Dongmin feels the same way. Well, he badly hopes Dongmin does. He's too scared to feel too confident. He doesn't want his heart to break if he gets rejected in the end. But Minhyuk knows he'll break into millions of pieces either way. He has fallen hard for Dongmin, real hard. 

Minhyuk feels his phone vibrate. His heart skips a beat. He’s hoping for the impossible, Dongmin.

His hands are shaking in anticipation as he fishes out his phone from his pocket and checks the message. It is from Dongmin. Minhyuk’s heart is pounding hard in his chest, and he forces himself to stop staring at the notification and open the message. He takes a deep nervous breath before he starts reading it.

\- Have you had lunch yet, Minhyukie? I hope you enjoy it and I’m sorry I didn’t show up today. I’m at home, sick, and all I can think of is you. What do I do? I really can’t help but miss you more and more every second.

Minhyuk smiles an enormous smile. The butterflies in his stomach are excited and happy, just like him. He giggles and presses his phone against his chest, where his heart is pounding fast. He giggles again and closes his eyes. This feeling… Minhyuk is sure he can't ever get tired of it. 

He pulls his phone away to read the message again, but just then someone snaps it out of his hand. Sanha.

“Yah!” He tries to take it back, but Sanha holds him away long enough to squeal when he’s done reading the message. He almost drops the phone before Minhyuk can take it, and Moonbin catches it instead. 

Minhyuk stares at Moonbin, eyes wide. He tries to stand up, reach out for it, or just do something to get his phone back, but Sanha holds him in place. 

Defeated, Minhyuk watches in terror as Moonbin also reads the message and gasps in pure shock.

“What is it?”

“Wow, friends, huh? Guys listen to this; it’s from Dongmin,” Moonbin says and clears his throat, preparing to read the message out loud. 

“No, Bin, no! Seriously, dude, don’t! It’s my phone, you can’t-” Minhyuk desperately begs but gets cut off as Moonbin starts reading the message with a crystal clear voice that pierces through the horrified Minhyuk. 

“Have you had lunch yet, Minhyukie? I hope you enjoy it and I’m sorry I didn’t show up today. I’m at home, sick, and all I can think of is you. What do I do? I really can’t help but miss you more and more every second.” 

The reactions are similar to Sanha’s. Half of his teammates scream and gasp while the other half drops everything in their hands, including cups of water or chopsticks, while their mouths also fall open. 

“Are you and Dongmin dating?” 

The person who asks pretty much shouts the question, his voice dominating over the chatters and laughs of the other students in the canteen. 

Quiet. That’s what the canteen is all of a sudden. Everyone and everything is just quiet. Painfully quiet. 

Minhyuk’s heart stops. He suddenly can’t feel or hear the crazy fast-beating, so all he can think of is that his heart has simply stopped beating. He has even stopped breathing, his lungs squeezing in around his heart. He’s frozen in place. Not only his teammates are staring at him, but slowly everyone else is too, following his teammates gazes to see who the person is, the person who is dating the popular and handsome basketball player with top grades. 

Minhyuk can hear gasps and whispers. Then everyone around him starts talking at once. 

“Since when?”

“How?” 

“You’re gay?”

“Dongmin is gay?”

“That explains why he rejects every single girl that confesses to him.”

“Don’t say this is something like enemies with benefits?” 

“What the hell? Are you trying to say they’re fucking each other?”

"I don't think fuck buddies text like that."

"Exactly! That was romantic. Minhyuk and Dongmin are totally in love."

Minhyuk ignores all questions and conversations. The blood in his veins is rushing and boiling through his trembling body. Slowly he stands up. It seems like there is still strength left in him to walk. 

He stops in front of Moonbin, who also stands up, his face pale. Minhyuk bets he had no idea the message would blow up like this, but this is on him for being a stupid jerk.

Forcefully Minhyuk takes his phone from Moonbin, startling him at the roughness of the movement. 

“Fuck you, Bin. Fuck you,” Minhyuk says, his voice shaking with anger and on the verge of breaking while angry and hurt tears gather in his eyes. He can’t believe his best friend did this. Now everyone knows. Everyone knows something that isn’t even confirmed between him and Dongmin yet. Most importantly, everyone knows Dongmin is gay when Dongmin doesn’t want anyone to know, but now the whole fucking school knows. 

He swallows thickly and runs out of the canteen, his vision blurry. Eyes of the gossiping students burn holes through his back.

* * *

Dongmin finally gets a message from Minhyuk. Nervously he opens it. The reply surprises him, and he feels even more nervous thinking of it. 

\- Send your address. I'm coming over.

Is Minhyuk serious? Is he coming over? Dongmin bites his lip to hold back a smile and quickly types back a message with weak trembling fingers. 

\- Now? But you still have classes.

\- Yes and I'm skipping them. 

Dongmin should tell him to not. He really should, but he's been dying to see Minhyuk. It shouldn't be too bad to skip the afternoon classes... Besides, his parents aren't home. This might be Dongmin's only chance to see Minhyuk and confess before his mother takes action after what she found out yesterday. 

Dongmin erases the address he has typed in when he remembers his current condition.

\- No, I'm sick. You shouldn't come here. 

\- It's okay, I don't mind.

After a few seconds, Minhyuk gets the address. He wipes off the tears on his face and sniffles. He scans the roads around him to see if there are any taxis nearby, but then he hears someone running up to him from behind. He turns around, and Moonbin stops right in front of him. 

“I’m so, so sorry, Minhyuk! I didn't mean to out you-”

“I don’t care, Bin! I don't give a fuck about myself and what people think about me, but Dongmin, I care about him, and he cares! He doesn’t want anyone to know he’s gay, but now everyone knows! Tell me how the fuck I’m supposed to tell him that? How do you think he’ll feel when he finds out that the whole school knows, huh? Can you imagine that? No, of course, you can’t because you never think of the possible outcomes of the shit you do. We finally, finally get along and now everything is ruined because of you! He’ll hate me again! All because you couldn’t hold back from reading that message when I begged you to not!” 

With every word, more tears flow down his cheeks, and the thought of Dongmin hating him again makes Minhyuk's heart hurt so badly that a black fog starts covering his vision in the corners. He can't breathe. For a second Minhyuk panics, scared of what's happening to him but then Moonbin is speaking again, bringing him back to his senses.

“I’m so sorry, I had no idea. I just wanted to joke around. I didn’t know the other guys would make such a big deal out of it. Please forgive me, Minhyukie-”

“Don’t call me that! No one gets to call me that. No one but Dongmin-” 

“Minhyuk!” Moonbin desperately cries out and tries to reach for Minhyuk’s hand, but Minhyuk pushes him away hard, making Moonbin stumble down on the ground with a pained look on his face. 

“If Dongmin doesn’t hate me after this and doesn’t leave me, then maybe I’ll try to forgive you. But for now, you are no longer my best friend. Neither is Sanha.”

Minhyuk doesn't care if it looks like he's overreacting. He doesn't care if he seems too sensitive. Both Moonbin and Sanha need to be aware of the seriousness this holds. But Minhyuk doesn't expect them to understand how it feels to be outed like that. After all, they're straight. Normal. They don't have to worry or hide from people... or from themselves.

* * *

“My friend is coming over. He’ll be here soon. Can you show him to my room once he arrives, please?”

Jangmi raises one eyebrow. She stares down at Dongmin, who is lying in bed, pale and weak. 

“Please,” Dongmin says again, his voice hoarse. 

“Your friend is coming over? You mean he’s skipping classes to see you when you’re sick?”

“Please, do me this favor. It’s the only way I’ll feel better,” he whispers desperately. 

Jangmi sighs but then nods with a small smile, giving in easily. 

“Thank you.” 

Just then the doorbell rings. 

“That’s him?” Jangmi asks, and Dongmin shrugs, not sure if it’s Minhyuk. If it is, he got here pretty fast. Maybe he took a taxi?

Dongmin nervously shifts and squirms in his black king-sized bed covered in golden velvet bed sheets. Minhyuk is inside his house for the first time. Dongmin wonders what reaction he has to the white marble floor and high ceiling with modern decor and architecture mixed with classic European styled furniture in the depressing modern colors like white, grey, and black.

A few soft knocks on the door startles Dongmin, who pushes himself up onto a sitting position with a few difficulties. He clears his throat and tries to swallow the thick lump that has been stuck there for hours now, but he only ends up coughing. 

The door opens painfully slowly and finally, Minhyuk shows up behind it.

The first thing Dongmin notices is that Minhyuk’s eyes are red and a little swollen, the light and the sparkling stars aren’t visible inside of them, or maybe Dongmin is too far away to distinguish them. It looks like his face is covered in tear stains. Before Dongmin has a chance to get worried or even open his mouth to greet Minhyuk and ask if he’s okay, Minhyuk closes the door behind him and runs to Dongmin, throwing his backpack off on the way.

The next second Minhyuk is sitting on the bed with arms thrown around Dongmin’s neck and his face pressed against the crook of Dongmin's long neck. When Dongmin’s slow and tired brain registers this, he gasps and freezes, not knowing what to do or say. 

Hug back, a voice tells him. Dongmin frowns. It doesn't feel like that voice comes from inside his head. Maybe it comes from his heart. It sure sounds like something his heart wants. 

Dongmin hugs back, gently placing an arm over Minhyuk’s back while putting his hand in Minhyuk’s hair. He strokes it and closes his eyes, letting himself get lost in the many overpowering feelings. Feelings like the soft hair strands between his fingers, the warm body pressing in close to his, the wild beating of his heart, and the fluttering butterflies in his lousy stomach.

“I’ve missed you—a lot. I’m so happy you’re here… even though you shouldn’t be,” Dongmin whispers, and he’s not sure if Minhyuk pulling him closer and hugging him tighter is a reaction or an answer to his words. Maybe it’s both. Either way, Dongmin really is happy, and he can’t do much more than smile and hug back. 

After what feels like hours but is surely so much less, probably not even several minutes, Minhyuk lets go and sits back. 

"Minhyuk, what's going on? I… I can see that you've been crying. Why? Has something happened?" Dongmin asks softly, as softly as his horse and weak voice allows him to. 

He reaches out and caresses Minhyuk's cheek with his thumb. The way Minhyuk's eyelashes flutter close before he leans into the touch makes Dongmin's heart skip a beat and then melt down. It feels like all of Dongmin melts. No, rather, it feels like Dongmin softens for Minhyuk. And he has never felt like this for anyone else before. He has never wanted to hold a person close to himself and comfort them without any thoughts or questions, without any hesitation. He has never felt like he wants to give away his all and everything to another human. He has never felt like he's ready to do anything, cross any lines, climb every mountain, and swim through every ocean to see a person's smile, to see happiness light their face up. But Dongmin feels this way for Minhyuk. So to see Minhyuk cry, to see him… damaged and hurt sets off a fire inside of Dongmin. An angry fire, yet a sadness overwhelms him as if Minhyuk’s pain becomes his pain. 

"I don't know how to tell you this, Dongmin. I'm afraid. I'm so, so afraid. I'm afraid you'll hate me after hearing this. I'm afraid you'll never want to see my face again. I'm afraid I'll lose you,” Minhyuk whispers with a shaky voice, his eyes still closed. 

Dongmin shivers and his breath hitch. Something has happened. Something bad. But Dongmin isn’t really thinking of what that may be. He’s busy thinking of how Minhyuk’s fears are his fears too. He doesn’t wish to hate Minhyuk, and he doesn’t want Minhyuk to hate him. He doesn’t want to lose Minhyuk, ever. And how can he not want to see Minhyuk’s face when it barely took an hour for Dongmin to miss him like crazy. Miss seeing his face, his smile, and his eyes.

“I will not hate you neither will I leave you, Minhyuk. I-”

“Don’t say that. If not now, if not today, you might hate me and leave me one day in the future, so don’t promise me anything.” Minhyuk says and pulls away. 

Dongmin dislikes hearing that, but it’s the truth, and the truth is more often than not displeasing. Minhyuk is right, Dongmin can’t promise him anything no matter how badly he wants to. 

Minhyuk sighs and finally looks into Dongmin’s eyes. 

“When you sent the message, I was eating lunch with the guys from our team. Moonbin took my phone and read it out loud for everyone. They asked me if we’re dating and… the whole canteen heard.”

Dongmin gasps. It feels like his heart makes the drop of a roller coaster ride and crashes into a pit off the track. That buzzing sound that filled his ears when his mother confronted him, it’s back. He doesn’t want to believe it, but Minhyuk is speaking the truth. That’s what happened. That’s why Minhyuk ran away and skipped his classes to come to him. That’s why Minhyuk cried. 

“I’m sorry. I should’ve done something, but I got paralyzed when Sanha held me back and when Bin started reading it. I couldn’t do anything. I’m so sorry, Dongmin,” Minhyuk says and lifts his hand but hesitates as if he’s not sure if he can touch Dongmin anymore. 

It doesn’t get into Dongmin’s mind. He doesn’t understand. Moonbin read the message for everyone in his team? The personal message that was only for Minhyuk, his team heard it? Then they asked if he and Minhyuk are dating loud enough for the whole canteen to hear? Dongmin doesn’t want to understand. No. Everyone can’t know he’s gay. They can’t. His worst nightmare can't have turned into reality once again after his mother finding out. No. 

“It’s not your fault. You don’t need to be sorry,” Dongmin forces out with a choked voice. He takes a deep breath and tries to gather his thoughts, but suddenly a nauseous feeling takes over him. 

He almost jumps out of bed to run to his bathroom where he throws up for the third time today. 

Dongmin tries to gesture for Minhyuk to go. He doesn’t want Minhyuk to witness him throwing up, it’s disgusting, but Minhyuk doesn’t leave the bathroom. He’s bending down behind Dongmin and stroking his back and comforting Dongmin through the vomiting and rough coughs that follow. 

“Sorry about that,” Dongmin mumbles when Minhyuk helps him up on his feet. Minhyuk shakes his head with a sweet smile on his lips that washes away Dongmin’s pain and discomfort after just throwing up.

Dongmin lays down in bed with the help of Minhyuk, who is now busy setting up pillows under Dongmin’s head. He can’t stop staring at Minhyuk’s concentrated face as he tries to make Dongmin comfortable. It’s something new for Dongmin to be staring up at Minhyuk, who is leaning over him.

Dongmin is starting to believe his fingers aren’t trembling because of weakness from being sick but because of how nervous Minhyuk manages to make him over the smallest things.

“Should I get you some water?” Minhyuk asks softly, smiling down at Dongmin, who wonders if it's an angel smiling at him like that. 

Dongmin shakes his head and smiles back. 

“Are you sure?” Minhyuk asks, and when Dongmin nods, he finally sits down on the edge of the bed.

“We both got outed then,” Dongmin suddenly whispers.

“Dongmin-”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not worth it. Let them gossip as much as they want. It doesn’t matter," Dongmin says, and his chest clenches. A lie, that's what that was. Dongmin can't imagine himself going back to school. He won't be able to endure the piercing stares and the talks behind his back. 

But as Dongmin looks at Minhyuk, who is anxiously chewing at his lower lip, he realizes that he didn't lie. 

Dongmin sits up and leans back against the pillows. Minhyuk opens his mouth, probably to tell Dongmin that he should lay back down but Dongmin speaks before him.

"To me, only you matter," he says and takes Minhyuk's hand, intertwining their fingers. 

He feels warm and not because of his fever but because of happiness and love. He feels warm seeing Minhyuk's cute surprised expression and the blush on his cheeks.

"I like you, Park Minhyuk,” Dongmin confesses, thrilled and blissful.

Minhyuk stares at him, shocked. His mouth is hanging open, and his big eyes are even bigger and rounder than usual. 

“Oh,” he finally says with a small voice.

“Oh? Really? That’s it?” Dongmin asks. He’s not sure if he’s amused or surprised. Minhyuk’s reaction isn't much of a reaction. Not one Dongmin had expected anyway.

Then, Minhyuk blushes, avoiding Dongmin’s gaze. He scratches the top of his head, and Dongmin can see that his fingers are shaking. 

All of a sudden, he closes his eyes and leans in with pushed out lips, like a cute round pout. Dongmin’s eyes widen, and he’s frozen, watching Minhyuk’s face inching closer and closer.

He wakes up from his daze when Minhyuk’s lips are centimeters from his own. He backs away and puts his hands on Minhyuk’s shoulder to stop him from snuggling closer. He’ll end up on top of Dongmin if he keeps moving so blindly to find Dongmin’s lips.

“What are you doing?” Dongmin asks, letting out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding together with the question. His heart is beating wildly, and a large part of him is disappointed over backing away instead of pushing forward to meet Minhyuk’s willing lips. 

Minhyuk opens his eyes and quickly scoots back so far that he would have fallen off the bed if Dongmin hadn’t reached out and grabbed his arm. 

Dongmin holds in his laughter when he sees Minhyuk’s confused and dumbfounded expression. He’s blushing so hard he has turned into a tomato.

“Shouldn’t we like… kiss... after confessing?” Minhyuk asks with a small voice, refusing to look at Dongmin, who is staring at him fondly. 

Dongmin lets out the laugh he was holding, feeling joyful and peaceful.

“No, silly! Not when I’m sick and just threw up. Unless you want to taste my vomit.”

Minhyuk nervously giggles and shakes his head with a small smile on his lips. Finally, he looks at Dongmin but instantly turns away again, blushing. Dongmin chuckles. It’s cute how embarrassed Minhyuk is. 

He retakes Minhyuk’s hand, tugging it to force Minhyuk to face him. Minhyuk looks at him, and Dongmin points at his cheek, turning his face to the side. 

In the corner of his eyes, Dongmin can see Minhyuk’s wide smile as he leans in and presses a soft kiss onto Dongmin’s cheek, lingering for a second or two. Dongmin closes his eyes to the feeling. To have Minhyuk’s soft rosy lips on his skin feels like flying to Dongmin, who is getting overwhelmed by the nervousness caused by butterflies in his stomach and his racing heart that is beating too hard. Dongmin gets an understanding of how Minhyuk might have felt when Dongmin kissed him on the cheek. 

When Minhyuk leans back, they’re both blushing and shyly glancing at each other, an awkward silence surrounding them. 

Luckily, the silence between them saves Dongmin from showing how affected he is. And Dongmin is very affected, more than he thought he would be when he indirectly asked for the chaste kiss. He feels like the air got knocked out of him, just like how Minhyuk was left breathless when he got kissed on the cheek.

“You have a nice room,” Minhyuk blurts out, only because he was getting uncomfortable with the silence and felt desperate to say something. 

He hadn’t cared to take a closer look at the interior, not even when he first entered the bedroom. After all, Minhyuk didn’t hurry here to wow the unique and detailed dresser by the bed or the expensive velvet sheets. He doesn’t need to look around. He already knew Dongmin's house and room would be something out of a drama.

“Well, that was out of the blue but thank you. I haven’t had the freedom to decorate it the way I want, but since you think it’s nice, I’m happy,” Dongmin answers with a smile that Minhyuk cheerfully returns. 

“So, uhm, since we like each other, are we-?”

“Dating? Boyfriends? Yes, I think so, but unfortunately, we might have a problem. Kinda like an obstacle in the way,” Dongmin sighs. 

“My mom knows. She found out about me, us, yesterday. Her secretary saw us walking out of school after the game. She confronted me and I... came out. I admitted that I like you,” Dongmin continues nervously. 

"I guess we're unlucky then," Minhyuk mumbles, head hanging down. He doesn’t look so happy or excited anymore. Dongmin supposes Minhyuk knows what this means for them. It’s heartbreaking and upsetting, but Dongmin will find a way for them to be together without having his parents in the way. He’s determined to break free from them and their policy, somehow.

"I'm the unlucky one. If you stay with me, you might get unlucky too," Dongmin says sadly. 

"I'll rather stay with you and get unlucky than lose you," Minhyuk replies softly. 

Dongmin blushes. “You’re so sweet, you know that?” 

“I know, but it won’t hurt to hear it now and then,” Minhyuk responds with a shrug, confident. 

Dongmin laughs and pushes him away playfully. Minhyuk laughs along, but then he garbs Dongmin's hand and leans in, not too close but still close. He stares into Dongmin's eyes, and there’s a seriousness over his sharp gaze.

“Are you okay though, Dongmin? Did your mother get mad? She didn’t... hurt you, right?” he asks, worriedly and unsurely. 

“Physically or emotionally?” Dongmin asks playfully even though there’s nothing in the topic to joke about. 

Minhyuk’s eyes widen, and then he smacks Dongmin on the arm, not hard, but Dongmin still flinches. 

“Dongmin!” 

“Sorry, sorry,” he mumbles. 

Dongmin doesn’t plan on telling Minhyuk. There’s no point in worrying him. What happened happened. Minhyuk deserves happiness and happiness only. Dongmin doesn't want Minhyuk to ever feel sad because of him. And with that thought, Dongmin is reminded of Minhyuk crying before arriving. Crying because they both got outed to their school. 

Dongmin had gotten the impression that Minhyuk didn't care about hiding his sexuality even though he didn't walk around telling people and would rather keep it to himself. Dongmin knows his impression is accurate. He knows that Minhyuk cried for him, cried because he knows it's Dongmin's biggest fear to be known as a gay male.

“She just told me that I needed to get it out of my head and that you must have tricked me or something like that. I don’t know. I didn't care enough to listen to her,” Dongmin tells Minhyuk, who gives him a skeptical look but doesn’t push Dongmin to hear the whole incident, and Dongmin is thankful for that for Minhyuk's own sake. 

Dongmin gives himself a mission, or rather a promise to keep. As long as he can stay by Minhyuk's side, he'll never let the sweet and caring boy cry again. Not for him nor for anyone or anything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> The love for this fanfic has made me so happy. It developed into something I hadn't planned or thought over so basically the continuations were all spontaneous and written in a go of what came to mind lol. Still, I'm kinda satisfied with how it turned out and I hope you liked reading it as much as enjoyed writing it <3333


	4. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to get this in here too. It's the happy ending they deserve! But it also can make you ponder about what might have happened and what could have happened.  
> Again, thanks a lot for reading this story!

"I… love you. I love you, Minhyuk." 

Minhyuk's eyes widen and he gasps, putting a hand over his gaping mouth. 

"Really?" he whispers, his eyes almost… teary all of a sudden, and it reminds Dongmin of himself. He had also cried the first time Minhyuk confessed, talking about his passions. That felt like a long time ago now. Time passes by fast. Sometimes too fast. 

"Yes. I love you so much, Minhyuk. Do you think you still want to be my boyfriend? Do you want to be the man who loves me to the moon and back?” Dongmin says with a nervous smile.

"To the moon and back? I'll always be your boyfriend who loves you to the end of the universe and back," Minhyuk says and almost leaps into Dongmin, swinging his arms around his neck. 

Dongmin giggles and hugs Minhyuk, pulling him as close as possible. Dongmin feels ecstatic. He can't believe Minhyuk still wants to be his boyfriend despite the two of them taking different paths that will be leading them away from each other. 

He can't believe Minhyuk wants to love him that much. Does Dongmin even deserve Minhyuk’s endless love after how mean he was? Probably not, but he's too selfish to let go of someone so precious and valuable to him. He truly loves Minhyuk. He does and has this whole time. 

The things he has done and endured to keep them together have all been worth it. The choices he has made, he doesn’t regret a single one. Not even the choice he had to make between his one and two passions, Minhyuk and basketball. He doesn’t regret choosing Minhyuk over basketball even though it means they'll be apart more often than they’ll be together. This is the only way he wouldn’t have lost Minhyuk forever, so he’s happy and relieved with the choice he made. Even though Minhyuk doesn't know of this, Dongmin can see that Minhyuk is happy and relieved too. 

"The universe doesn't have an end, Minhyuk," Dongmin can't stop himself from saying, laughing. 

Minhyuk also laughs. The next second he kisses Dongmin deeply and lovingly, turning Dongmin into an emotional mess that desperately kisses back and pours all the love he feels into the kiss. 

Minhyuk’s lips against his will always be Dongmin’s favorite feeling, and Minhyuk’s taste will always be his favorite taste. For Dongmin, it’s impossible to imagine one day of his life without Minhyuk. He doesn't believe that he'll not love kissing Minhyuk and hugging Minhyuk. He can’t see a future where he doesn’t love laughing with Minhyuk, cuddling with Minhyuk, eating with Minhyuk, watching movies with Minhyuk, playing piano with Minhyuk and of course, Dongmin can’t imagine not loving to play basketball with Minhyuk, something he knows he’ll do despite taking the path his parents always wanted him to take. 

As Minhyuk leans back to look into Dongmin's eyes he says,

"Then my love for you is infinite, Lee Dongmin,” and Dongmin is certain, so is his love for Park Minhyuk. Infinite and forever.


End file.
